


Mine

by hermajestymanon



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bipolar Disorder, Canon Gay Relationship, Consensual Underage Sex, First Kiss, First Time, Gay Sex, Homophobia, Lots of Sex, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mental Institutions, Mpreg, Nesting, Omega Verse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rutting, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Teen Pregnancy, Underage Sex, is planned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2018-12-01 04:07:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 73,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11478276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermajestymanon/pseuds/hermajestymanon
Summary: Cassian and Nesta Archeron's adopted son, Baylor, and Mor and Azriel's son, Nathaniel, realize they not only love each other, theyre mates





	1. Meeting Cassian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bay carefully walked down the hall, careful to not draw any attention to himself. He mixed in with the crowd as he neared the snacks. Bay's stomach growled again at the sight of the fresh chocolate chip cookies.
> 
> The librarian looked down at him, her lips tightening as her nostrils flared, scenting him. Bay quietly took a cookie and shrunk back from her. He wasn't on suppressants. She would know he was an Omega. "Th-thank you."
> 
> She jerked her chin and Bay bolted, only for him to be caught around the waist before he got out of the building. Bay struggled as he tried getting out of the man's grip. He nearly kicked himself. It had been a trap. Of course.
> 
> "Whoa, whoa," the man said. "I'm not going to hurt you. Stop fighting," he said in a firm voice. His scent was almost nonexistent- from suppressants- but his tone. Bay just knew. Alpha.

Bay snuck into the library to warm up from the chill of the winter wind. He had begun to spend more and more time away from home, in desperate attempt to get away from his father. He followed the other children to the reading circle where two uniformed men were reading aloud.

The long-haired man looked in his direction and Bay froze. He was trying to remain unseen and unheard. He had just wanted to get warm and to hear a story.  _Not_ get noticed by a police officer. When the man leaned down and whispered into his partner’s ear, his hazel-gold eyes still on him, Bay backed up and ran through the library.

He could hear the officer trying to find him. He didn’t want to be found. Bay scanned the large space. He would have been able to find Bay easily if he had hidden low. Bay’s eyes locked onto the heavy oak bookshelf, his eyes traveling up.  _Perfect_.

Bay always had been a good climber; and an even better hider. With a foot to each shelf, Bay climbed to the top of the case and pushed back into the wall with his arms around his legs. He held his breath as the police officer scanned the room.

“Where did he go,” the officer murmured. Bay watched him look around the room and froze when he thought the man spotted him. But he just shook his head and ran a hand through his dark hair. “That’s weird,” he said loudly. “I was going to offer him one of the homemade snacks we brought with us from Rita’s.” The man hummed. “Oh well, I guess we’ll have to keep the snacks out in the main room, just in case he reappears.”

His traitorous stomach growled as the officer walked out of the room. He  _was_ rather hungry and he did enjoy food from Rita’s. He hadn’t eaten since the morning before. His father had forgotten to make dinner again.

After a few minutes of internal debate, Bay carefully climbed down the bookcase to the plush carpet. Maybe if he stayed mingled with the other children, he’d be okay. He was small and fast, he could get in and out of anywhere.

Bay carefully walked down the hall, careful to not draw any attention to himself. He mixed in with the crowd as he neared the snacks. Bay’s stomach growled again at the sight of the fresh chocolate chip cookies.

The librarian looked down at him, her lips tightening as her nostrils flared, scenting him. Bay quietly took a cookie and shrunk back from her. He wasn’t on suppressants. She would know he was an Omega. “Th-thank you.”

She jerked her chin and Bay bolted, only for him to be caught around the waist before he got out of the building. Bay struggled as he tried getting out of the man’s grip. He nearly kicked himself. It had been a trap.  _Of_   _course._

“Whoa,  _whoa_ ,” the man said. “I’m not going to hurt you. Stop  _fighting_ ,” he said in a firm voice. His scent was almost nonexistent- from suppressants- but his tone. Bay just knew.  _Alpha_.

Bay froze where he was and looked up at the man with wide eyes. It was the same police officer from before. He seemed kind, but he had been wrong before. “What’s your name, Kid?’

Bay looked around him, trying to find an out, but he couldn’t find one. He trained his eyes to the floor in submission; but he heard a disapproving hum come from the man. Bay looked up to see the man get down to eye level with him. “My name is Cassian and I can help you.” The man’s nostrils flared and surprise lit his eyes. Bay took an involuntary step back and pressed his lips together but the man’s hands were still firmly on his shoulders, keeping him in place. “You can speak,” he said kindly. “I’m not going to hurt you. What’s your name?”

Omegas were used to being seen and not heard, especially omega children. His father preferred it when he didn’t speak. Bay thought it was because that way, he could pretend he didn’t have an Omega for a son.

 It took a few tries, but Bay got his name out. “B-Baylor Perditus, sir.”

Cassian nodded thoughtfully. “How old are you, Bay? Where are your parents?” His voice lowered, “It’s not safe for an Omega to be out alone. Especially one not on suppressants.”

 Bay’s face inflamed and he swallowed. “I’m ten and a half and my dad is at home.”

Surprise lit his eyes and Bay sighed internally. What one was, usually showed itself in their scent after one has presented. Presenting typically happened when one reached puberty. And lucky him, he presented early; at ten years old because of stress.

“Why aren’t you on suppressants?” He asked in that same low voice.

Bay snorted derisively. “My father doesn’t care about me or my safety. He would probably be relieved at the chance to be rid of me.”

A low growl tore through Cassian’s throat and Bay stiffened and slammed his lips shut. He always did have a problem with his mouth. The man stood and ran his hand through his hair and sighed deeply. “Bay.. would you be willing to come with me to the police station?”

 _No_. This was what he was afraid of. Last thing he needed was his father to come down to the station to pick him up. It would end with either him dead or bleeding. The fear must have been present in his scent because Cassian’s face softened. “You’re not in trouble. I just want to get you some support. Maybe find you somewhere more…stable to stay?” Cassian got to eye level with him again and rose his brows and gingerly touched his cheek. “Where did that bruise come from?”

 _My dad_. Bay swallowed and looked at him, dodging the question. “Where would I go? I don’t have any family and I sure as hell won’t go into foster care,” Bay said boldly. “I won’t let you. I’ll run first.”

Surprise flashed in Cassian’s face and he hesitated. Bay nearly gaped at him. An Alpha hesitating because of  _him_? “I have to run things through with some people, my wife and the department and DHS, but, I would like it if you came to stay with me and Nesta.”

Bay blinked and blinked again. “B-but why?” He couldn’t have heard him right. Why would he care about him? He just met him and-

“Because. I like you.” He let out a breath and have him a small grin. “I won’t try to get your hopes up, but, I can promise you I  _will_ find you somewhere that will want you and protect you and will love you.”  Bay felt his throat thicken in attempt to keep himself calm. He blinked rapidly and looked down. Cassian lifted Bay’s chin and met his eyes. “And I would like it if my wife and I were that somewhere. Would you be okay with that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Comments and kudos are loved and appreciated :)


	2. The Police Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassian looked back at Bay, to see the kid looking at him. Cassian grinned and Bay looked down, hands clasped in his lap, his ears turning a dark shade of red. Cassian chuckled under his breath and turned to Azriel. "We got to get him out of his house. The kid won't last long without suppressants, especially when he has his first heat. I'm willing to bet his house doesn't have scent-blockers." Which was illegal to not have in the first place. "What do we got on his father?"
> 
> A shadow past Azriel's eyes as he dropped a second file on top of Bay's. "Assault, B and E, resisting arrest, domestic violence, DUI, drugs. The list goes on and on." Azriel shook his head, his voice laced with darkness, "I want to know who the fuck let a child stay with that man." Cassian tipped his head back and ran his hand through his hair as Azriel looked at him. "You want him to come live with you, don't you?"

Cassian eyed the kid sitting on the blue plastic chair by the wall. He was swinging his legs, his eyes darting between all the police officers in the station; he could see Bay was fighting his instinct to run. Bay brought the candy bar Cassian gave him to his lips, chipping off a piece and eating it.

A hand clamped his shoulder and he turned to see Azriel lean down next to him. “I found some information on the boy, none of it’s good.”

Cassian ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Tell me.”

Azriel pulled up a chair next to his and dropped a heavy file on his desk. Cassian’s brows rose and he glanced between the file and Bay before going back to Azriel with raised brows. “He’s ten years old and he has a thick-ass file.”

Azriel nodded. “I know. According to our system, Baylor Perditus was born an omega to Caeli Perditus and David Odium on December thirty-first of oh-seven. Mother died in childbirth and the kid got placed with his father after her death. He’s had run-ins with the cops for breaking curfew and theft.” His lips curled up. “And resisting arrest.”

Cassian snorted and opened the file. A picture of Bay clipped to the upper left had Cassian sighing. The boy had wide eyes and a bruise to his face, swelling his cheek; the kid looked like a deer struck in headlights and hunger was plain on his face. “Let me guess, the theft was food.”

“You know it,” Azriel nodded. “Fruit, vegetables, candy. Whatever he could grab and run with.” He leaned in and tapped the file. “He’s not in school, either. No record of attending. According to my sources, he’s homeschooled by his father. I have a feeling it’s because it’s easier to carry on the abuse and this way, he didn’t have to put him on suppressants.”

 Cassian looked back at Bay, to see the kid looking at him. Cassian grinned and Bay looked down, hands clasped in his lap, his ears turning a dark shade of red. Cassian chuckled under his breath and turned to Azriel. “We got to get him out of his house. The kid won’t last long without suppressants, especially when he has his first heat. I’m willing to bet his house doesn’t have scent-blockers.” Which was  _illegal_ to not have in the first place. “What do we got on his father?”

A shadow past Azriel’s eyes as he dropped a second file on top of Bay’s. “Assault, B and E, resisting arrest, domestic violence, DUI, drugs. The list goes on and on.” Azriel shook his head, his voice laced with darkness, “I want to know who the fuck let a child stay with that man.” Cassian tipped his head back and ran his hand through his hair as Azriel looked at him. “You want him to come live with you, don’t you?”

Cassian nodded. “We’ve been trying to have kids for the better part of the last ten years, and,” he looked at Bay. “I think she’ll like him. I know I do.” Bay’s eyes shot up, as if he were aware he was being talked about, but he trained them back on his lap seconds later; Cassian smiled.

“You talk to her yet?”

He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced at his watch. “Not yet. Her lunch break is in half an hour.” He leaned closer to Azriel. “The kid is already itching to run and if I leave him alone, that’s just what he’ll do. He doesn’t trust cops. I barely got him to agree to come with me.”

Azriel rubbed his jaw and gave Bay an assessing look. “Pretty headstrong for an Omega.” He flicked his hazel-gold eyes to him. “Think he’ll agree to go to the hospital with me? I’d bring him to spend some time with the boys, but I don’t think it would be safe for any of them without Bay’s scent suppressed.”

“Dunno,” Cassian shut the files and leaned back, whistling at Bay. The boy’s head shot up and Cassian jerked his head, motioning him to come. Bay looked between him and Azriel, his brows furrowed, and reluctantly got to his feet and came over to his desk.

Bay crossed his arms, his eyes flicking between him and his partner. “Are you going to call my dad now?”  Cassian could smell the fear on Bay. He swallowed the growl in his throat and took a calming breath. “Please,” Bay said with wide eyes. “ _Don’t_.”

 Cassian pushed out a seat. “Sit.” Bay promptly did as told, folding his hands in his lap. “We will need to talk to your father, Bay.” Palpable fear rose in Bay’s scent as the boy got up to run. Cassian caught the boy’s arm and sat him back down. “You don’t need to be afraid, okay? We’ve already started the process to get you out of your house. He won’t be able to touch you.”

Bay turned to him, his eyes unflinching and hard, although his scent betrayed him. “Do you promise?” The kid’s voice came out even and low with suspicion.

He and Azriel exchanged glances; Azriel would move heaven and earth to get Bay out of that house, as would he. It was instinct for an Alpha to protect an omega; hardwired in their genes. “I need to go see my wife, tell her about you,” he said, effectively avoiding the question. He didn’t want to promise something he wasn’t positive he could give. “But I’d like you to go with my partner here,” he clasped Azriel’s shoulder, “and get put on suppressants.”

 “I- I thought I’d be going with  _you_ ,” Bay stammered, his ears and cheeks turning an endearing shade of pink, his eyes wide. “Can’t I wait until you get back?” He flicked his gaze to Azriel, his ears growing redder. “No offense, Officer Verrum.”

Azriel gave him a reassuring smile as Cassian’s heart melted. He liked the kid wanting him,  _needing_  him. Perhaps this is what being a father felt like. Cassian leaned forward on his elbows and ruffled Bay’s hair. Cassian’s smile widened at Bay’s flat stare. “Az here, is a little sore on the eyes but he’s a pretty decent guy.” Azriel rolled his eyes as Cassian leaned forward and whispered, “Plus he has an in at Rita’s.” Bay’s eyes lit up. “I bet if you ask nicely, he’ll take you there afterwards.”

Bay glared at him. “You don’t need to talk to me as if I’m five. I know what you’re doing.” He hesitated and shuffled in his seat before turning his hazel-green eyes to Azriel. “You’ll take me to Rita’s? Really?”

 Azriel nodded. “Whatever you want, my treat.” He leaned forward, his badge glinting in the light. “And we should wrap up just in time for Cassian, here, to get done with talking to Nesta. So, what do you think? Gonna come with me?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's part two! Please leave a comment! It motivates me to write faster :)


	3. Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I have a young man who needs to be put on Suppressants and to have a full body work up." He slid a piece of paper onto the counter. "Here's my court order. I'll be acting as his Guardian Ad Litem until further notice."
> 
> The woman clicked her tongue and took the paper and examine it. He had brought in enough court orders over the years the woman would be able to recognize it within a few seconds. While waiting, Azriel glanced back to where the child is sitting.
> 
> Bay was looking through magazines and swinging his legs. The boy was so small his feet didn't touch the floor. He didn't miss Bay looking around himself every few seconds, as if he were keeping an eye out for the first sign of trouble. Bay's eyes snapped to his and his feet stopped swinging.

Leaning down to Bay’s ear, Azriel motioned to the waiting room chairs. “Why don’t you go have a seat? I’ll get us signed in.” Bay’s eyes went to the waiting room and he frowned. Azriel could smell the distrust on the child; it hurt his heart. “Go on.”

As Bay went to find a seat, Azriel went up to the service desk and splayed his scarred hands atop the wood. The secretary, a small wrinkled thing, looked up at him with a small smile. “Ah, Officer Verrum. What can I do for the city’s finest?”

“I have a young man who needs to be put on Suppressants and to have a full body work up.” He slid a piece of paper onto the counter. “Here’s my court order. I’ll be acting as his Guardian  _Ad Litem_  until further notice.”

The woman clicked her tongue and took the paper and examine it. He had brought in enough court orders over the years the woman would be able to recognize it within a few seconds.  While waiting, Azriel glanced back to where the child is sitting.

Bay was looking through magazines and swinging his legs. The boy was so small his feet didn’t touch the floor. He didn’t miss Bay looking around himself every few seconds, as if he were keeping an eye out for the first sign of trouble. Bay’s eyes snapped to his and his feet stopped swinging.

The boy stared him down until Azriel turned back to the receptionist with a small smile on his face. Most omegas he had seen were submissive and refrained from eye contact with an alpha; but Bay, the child had a quiet resolve along with stubbornness. He would be a perfect fit with Cassian and Nesta.

“You’re all set up, officer. Go ahead and take a seat and Dr. Archeron’s nurse will be out in a few minutes.”

Azriel nodded before making his way to the seat beside Bay. He quietly observed Bay reading his magazine but it only took a half a minute to realize Bay wasn’t reading it and judging by the look on Bay’s bruised face, he couldn’t read it to begin with.

He didn’t know what to do to make the omega feel calmer without calling attention to his inability to read so he just sat quietly waiting with him. The boy glowered at the magazine as he flipped the page.

When the nurse finally came, Azriel and Bay got to their feet and followed her back. Bay got weighed; sixty-five pounds, nearly 20 pounds lower than the average weight for a ten-year-old; and measured; height was four feet seven, nearly eight inches shorter than average.

When they reached the room, Bay climbed onto the table and looked down at his clasped hands while they waited. Azriel sat in the chair and looked at the boy. “When was the last time you were in for a checkup?”

Bay looked up from his lap and tilted his head as he thought about it. “Don’t know. Maybe a few years ago? When I had the flu?”

Azriel nodded slowly and sucked on his tooth. “Not when you presented?” Bay shook his head and Azriel felt a ball of icy rage sit in his stomach. When he presented, he should have gone to the doctor to immediately be put on Suppressants, to not only protect himself but the people around him. Especially since male omegas were somewhat rare.

 After the nurse took Bay’s vitals, it took Elain roughly ten minutes to come in and sit in the rolling chair. She looked at Bay and introduced herself before smiling at him and looking at Bay’s chart. Azriel watched her bite her lip as she hummed lightly. “Ten years old and you’ve presented already.” She looked up and smiled at the omega whose ears were bright red. “It’s not unheard of considering most present around twelve to fourteen years old. Stress and malnourishment are triggers to jump start your body’s biology.”

Bay nodded wordlessly and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously as Elain continued. “Well, before we get to your Suppressants, were going to need to do a physical.” Bay’s head snapped up at that and he tugged on the sleeves of his worn jean jacket as if trying to hide evidence.

“Do I have to take my shirt off?”

“Just for a few minutes. I need to see if there’s any physical markers that need to be tested such as moles or sores. That kind of thing.”

Bay slid his eyes to him and pressed his lips into a firm line. “You said I just needed to be put on Suppressants, not that I’d have to take my shirt off.” His tone was thick with accusation and Azriel sighed.

“I can go wait outside for you if you’d like the privacy,” said Azriel. “Or I can stay in here with you. Your choice.”

Bay considered it for half a minute, his eyes cast down and head cocked while he thought over his offer. Finally looking at him, Bay leaned forward on the bed, the paper beneath him crinkling. “You can stay, only if you don’t tell Cassian what you see.”

Dread filled every inch of Azriel as he looked the boy over. He was in clothes too big for him and glasses that appeared scratched. He nodded and sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers. “I won’t say anything unless you say otherwise.”

Bay studied him, his gaze thick with mistrust before relaxing his shoulders and nodding. He broke eye contact as he unzipped his large coat and pulled it off. The red shirt beneath was faded so much it looked pink and the edges were frayed and holes were everywhere. But that information was drowned out by the bruising going down Bay’s arms; bruising that looked like fingerprints.

Elain inhaled sharply and Bay’s cheeks and ears inflamed as he pulled off the shirt and dropped it on top of the jacket. Dark bruises wrapped around to Bay’s chest to his back, his ribs showing through his skin. Azriel forced a growl down by swallowing it thickly, he didn’t need the omega to panic. Bay trained his gaze in his lap, refusing to look at either of them.

“Thank you,” Elain said weakly as she stood and did her exam. She pressed her hands along where Bay’s kidneys and liver would be, checking for pain and damage to the organs. “Does this hurt?”

“Well,” Bay scratched out. “It does where the bruises are but other than that, I don’t think so.”

Elain nodded, blinking her eyes rapidly. “I want to run some blood work, just to make sure everything is working correctly. Would you be okay with that?”

Bay’s face drained in color and he gripped the end of the exam table with his hands, his knuckles going white. But Bay merely nodded and said hoarsely, “Yeah, that’s okay, I guess.”

Elain nodded and went over to the cabinet and pulled out the needed supplies and washed her hands in the sink before then putting on a pair of latex gloves. She came over to Bay and wrapped a tourniquet around his arm and pressed two fingers down it, looking for a vein. “Bay, I’m going to use a Butterfly Needle. What that is, it’s the smallest needle we have and it won’t hurt. Maybe a little prick but that’s over quickly, okay?”

Bay nodded and watched Elain unwrap the needle and pressed her two fingers in the place where the vein was and then said, “Okay, I’m going to poke you now, okay? Just relax.”

Bay nodded and watched her. He winced slightly as the needle went into his skin. She untied the tourniquet as the blood flowed quickly into the vials before pulling it out and placing a cotton ball over the site. “Hold this here?”

Bay did as asked and Elain put things away and placed a light green Band-Aid over the wound. She sat back in her chair and smiled. “Now that that is done, we’ll go on with your Suppressants.”

“Can I put my shirt back on?” Bay asked in a small voice.

Elain nodded and relief spread across his face almost imperceptibly as he quickly went about putting his shirt and coat back on. Bay looked at him, daring him to say something. Azriel just rose his brows.

Bay looked at him for seconds longer before turning his attention back to Elain. The woman pressed her finger tips together. “The suppressants won’t work immediately to suppress your heat for about a week or so but it will mask your scent immediately. You  _shouldn’t_ have a heat unless your true mate is nearby.”

Bay nodded wordlessly and swallowed. Azriel could almost smell the embarrassment on the omega. Elain smiled kindly and patted Bay’s hands. “Have you had a heat yet? When did you present? It doesn’t say in your file.”

Bay rubbed the back of his neck, red spreading from his cheeks into his ears and neck. It was remarkably adorable in Azriel’s opinion. The omega fidgeted on the exam table. “About a month ago was when I presented but my father had suspected I was an omega for years and I haven’t had a heat yet.”

Elain added it to her charts and looked back at Bay. “I put in your order so you’ll just need to pick them up from the pharmacy. Take a tablet every morning with food. I’ll have your prescriptions set up so they refill every month but you’ll have to come in every six months to renew. Understand?”

Bay nodded and Elain smiled and turned to Azriel. “It was good seeing you again, Azriel.” She patted Bay’s cheek. “I have a son your age; perhaps you’ll see him around. It was good meeting you Bay.”

Bay nodded as Elain left. Azriel watched as Bay hopped down from the exam table and grabbed his coat, slipping it on wordlessly. Bay looked up at him. “Can we go to Rita’s now?”

Judging by the look on the Omega’s face and the ribs he had seen before, the boy was starving. Azriel got down to eye level with him and smiled at him. “I promised, didn’t I? Whatever you want.” Bay’s eyes lit up and his smile stretched from ear to ear. “Let’s go.”

* * *

 

Parking his car, Cassian pulled out a photo from Bay’s file and slipped it into his jacket. He made his way into the diner, going straight for Nesta’s usual table. He leaned down and kissed her cheek as she took a drink of her tea before sitting in the seat across from her.

“I’ve met someone today,” Cassian said. “A boy who needs a home.”

Nesta’s eyes lifted to his. He could see a small ray of hope in them; it had his heart squeeze in his chest. Nesta tilted her head slightly, her steely gaze searching. “Don’t make me hope, Cassian. Not this. If you-“

Cassian slipped the photo across the table to his wife. She gingerly took it in her hands, her eyes growing bright with unshed tears. She ran a finger down the photo and flicked her eyes to his. “What’s his name?”

 Cassian smiled. “Baylor Perditus, I call him Bay. I found him coming into the library to get away from the cold. He climbed on top of a bookcase, Nesta. A  _bookcase_. He’s stubborn and headstrong but I think- I think he’d be happy with us.”

A small smile curled on Nesta’s face. “What about his family? Doesn’t he have parents? Or is he homeless. He can’t be more than nine years old. He’s so small.”

“He’s ten. His birthday was two months ago in December.” Surprise lit her eyes and Cassian sighed, taking her hand and squeezing it. “He lives with his father but he’s being neglected. The boy is an omega not on Suppressants and when I found him, he had a bruise on his face and he was terrified of me.”

Wrath lit up her eyes and her lips tightened. “What a monster. This man has the blessing of a child and he’s abusing him.” She blinked rapidly and looked back down at the photo. “Can I meet him? Today? I can take the rest of the day off and bring my paperwork home with me.”

Cassian checked his watch. “Well, Az should be done with Bay’s doctor appointment by now and he promised Bay Rita’s in exchange for going to the appointment with him instead of me.”

Pulling out his phone, Cassian dialed up his partner and lifted to his ear. Azriel answered on the third ring. “ _Hello_?”

“Do me a favor and ask Bay if it would be okay if I brought someone to meet him.”

“ _Nesta_?” He could hear muffled talking on the other end of the line and then silence. He figured Bay was hesitating whether or not to meet his wife. After a few seconds of silence, Azriel said, “ _Go ahead and bring her. We’re in the back booth._ ”

He nodded and hug up, looking at Nesta. “Are you ready to meet him?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COmments and Kudos are welcome and appreciated :)


	4. Rita's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azriel's lips tightened almost imperceptibly as he took a long drink from his coffee, his eyes going to Bay, almost as if he could see beneath Bay's coat. Nesta was willing to bet Azriel had seen Bay without his shirt and by the look on his face, he didn't like what he had seen. It was then that Nesta understood, there were bruises beneath it, just like the one on Bay's face.
> 
> Cassian snorted and leaned back throwing his arm across the back of the booth. "Bay, this is Nesta, my wife and mate and a Beta. Nesta, this is Baylor Perditus. Stubborn, mouthy and an Omega."
> 
> Bay looked her over warily, his ears turning an endearing shade of pink. "Hi."

Nesta walked in stride with Cassian through Rita’s, past all the couples and their children. She kept her eyes forward, ignoring the pang in her chest at the sounds and laughter filling the air. Cassian side glanced her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her and pulling her closer.

Up head, she could see Azriel hunched over the table, talking to someone. She stopped in place and looked at Cassian. “What if he doesn’t want to come with us, Cassian? I can’t- I can’t keep getting my hopes up that a child would want to be a part of our family.”

Her husband cupped her face, brushing he cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Everything will be alright, Sweetheart. Let’s just take this one step at a time. Bay needs a home and we have one. I don’t want to get your hopes up but I have a feeling this time is different. I think he’ll come with us.” He looked over his shoulder as if he could see Bay through the people and seats, before squeezing her hand. “Come on, he’s waiting to meet you.”

She swallowed and closed her eyes, centering herself. When she opened them, she smoothed down the skirt of her dress and lead Cassian back to the table. She silently slid into the booth and looked at the boy- at  _Bay_.

 Her heart cracked in half as she looked at him, his eyes cast down as he at the ice cream in front of him silently. He was so  _small_. Granted, she knew that from the picture Cassian showed her but here, in  _person_ , he was so much smaller than she had imagined. Stick thin beneath a baggy jean jacket and that  _bruise_  on his face; it made him look fragile and breakable. She swallowed her anger and laced her hands on the table.

Cassian climbed in beside her and leaned forward to ruffle Bay’ hair with a wolfish grin. “How was Elain? She help you out with Suppressants?”

Her sister must have, considering Bay’s scent was masked. He must have taken the pill before they showed up.

Bay looked up then and glared at Cassian, smoothing down his ashy hair. “I had to take my shirt off and get my blood drawn. Thanks for the warning, Cassian.”

Azriel’s lips tightened almost imperceptibly as he took a long drink from his coffee, his eyes going to Bay, almost as if he could see beneath Bay’s coat. Nesta was willing to bet Azriel had seen Bay without his shirt and by the look on his face, he didn’t like what he had seen. It was then that Nesta understood, there were bruises beneath it, just like the one on Bay’s face.

Cassian snorted and leaned back throwing his arm across the back of the booth. “Bay, this is Nesta, my wife and mate and a Beta. Nesta, this is Baylor Perditus. Stubborn, mouthy and an Omega.”

Bay looked her over warily, his ears turning an endearing shade of pink. “Hi.”

“I understand that you need somewhere to go,” Nesta said. “That your home isn’t safe for you to be. We have room for you at our house, if you’d like to come stay with us.”

Bay studied her matter-of-factness. She wasn’t sure if she was breathing or not. She wasn’t as warm as Elain or Feyre, even. But she did want this, she wanted a child. And after ten years without one, with adoptions falling through again and again, she didn’t know if she could handle another rejection.

He scratched his face self-consciously, his ears growing a darker shade of red as he looked between her and Cassian with eyes too wary and too old to belong to a ten-year-old little boy. “Would I have to call you ‘mom’ and ‘dad’?”

She blinked. It wasn’t a ‘no’. “Of course not. You can call us whatever you’re comfortable with. If that’s our names or if it’s ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, the choice is ultimately yours. And  _we_ will call  _you_  whatever you are comfortable with as well.”

Bay thought it over. “Bay. I want you to call me Bay.” Cassian grinned.

 She smiled and nodded. “Whatever you like.”

“Why would you want me, though?” Bay asked. His voice was laced with suspicion and incredulity, as if he was surprised that someone would even bother with him. “I’m an omega.” His eyes narrowed. “Or is it  _because_ I’m a  _male_ omega that you want me.”

 Male omegas were rare and prized and most met bad ends; their scents were sweeter, more potent, drawing all kinds of unsavory people their way, it was why most were on suppressants. Some had been bought and sold in underground slave trades. The things that had been done to them were unforgiveable; being treated as nothing more than a broodmare to give alphas and betas alike children, through  _any_  means. It was fair and smart to be cautious of the attention she and her husband were giving him: It was self-defense.

She exchanged glances with her husband. His pupils were blown out, angry, no doubt thinking the same thing as her. She squeezed his knee and gave him a firm warning look before looking back at Bay with a cool look. “It doesn’t matter if you were an omega, beta, or alpha. We want a child and  _you_ are a child.”

“Besides,” Nesta smiled faintly. “we like you. I think you would enjoy being with us and you can’t go home, not to a man who hurts you. And what would happen when you had a heat? Would you be safe with him, a male who already hurts you, during a  _heat_? Would you have suppressants or scent blockers in place so no one would be able to scent you when you went through one? Whether or not you choose to come with us, we can’t let you go back to that. You could either die or something far worse could happen to you.”

Bay’s tilted his head and studied her, his hair falling over his eyes. “You’re very blunt, aren’t you?” Nesta squeezed her hands tighter and met his eyes. This was usually when the child said ‘no’, when her straightforwardness became unappealing.

“Yes,” she said honestly. “I am.”

There was no point in lying to him. If he did come to live with them, he would see it firsthand. She would not lie her way into having a child; or change herself.

Bay smiled then, widely. “I like it.” He looked at Cassian. “I like her.  _She_ doesn’t talk to me as if I‘m  _five_.” Azriel coughed, covering a laugh.

The tightness in her chest unwound violently and she almost sobbed in relief. Her husband tipped his head back and laughed before pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “I like her too, Kid. It’s why I married her.”

“I understand you were at the library. Do you like reading?” Nesta asked. Bay’s face became unreadable and his cheeks and ears red as he took a bite of his ice cream, avoiding the question. Azriel met Cassian’s eyes and shook his head slightly. “You can’t read can you,” Nesta said candidly. Bay shook his head slightly. She could see Cassian’s eyes soften. “No worries, I can teach you. We have a library filled with books in our house and I have the time. I taught my nephew how to read so I can teach you too.”

 “And,” Cassian drawled, taking a drink from Azriel’s coffee. Azriel glared. “Those bookshelves are very…sturdy.” Bay’s eyes lit up in interest. “Easy for climbing.”

Azriel took his coffee cup back, “Get your own, Cassian.”

Bay snorted when Cassian stuck his tongue out at his partner. Nesta rolled her eyes and focused on Bay and not her childish husband. “We have a tree house,” Nesta said. “It’s a bit worn down from over the years but when Spring hits, I’m sure Cassian will revamp it a bit for you, if you like climbing on things so much.” Bay smiled. “Why  _do_ you like climbing on things?”

Bay shrugged. “Everything and everyone is bigger than me. And the higher I get,” Bay’s ears turned pink as he smiled softly. “the closer to the sky I get, to the stars. Besides,” Bay trained his gaze down to the table. “It’s easier to hide when you have the advantage of higher ground.”

Cassian and Azriel’s faces turned unreadable, cold. Between being Alphas and being police officers, the two males’ instincts were to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, that included children. By the time the two got done with Bay’s father, the male would regret the day he was born.

Nesta nodded. “Makes perfect sense.”

 “What do you say Kid,” Cassian asked, “We get the stamp of approval? You wanna come with us?”

Bay nodded. He  _nodded_. Cassian smiled so wide and Azriel smiled as well. But then his face turned troubled and then afraid, so very afraid. It had her wanting to rip out his father’s throat. “But…what about my clothes? I don’t want to go back and get them. I don’t want to go home.”

“We have some of my nephew’s old clothes you can borrow until tomorrow. Then we’ll give you a proper wardrobe. We won’t make you have to go back.” She leaned forward and took Bay’s hand across the table. “We will do everything in our power to make sure you don’t ever have to go back to that house or that male.”

Bay studied her, the fear dimming down to wariness, looking for the lie in her words. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, to get her point across.  Then the wariness went away and Bay nodded and squeezed her hand in return. “Can I see where you live?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are welcome and appreciated XO


	5. Nessian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassian looked at the red numbers on the alarm clock. It was closing in on midnight. Rolling his neck, Cassian pulled the covers off and swung his legs off the bed. "I'm going to go check on him. He hasn't made a sound in the past two hours. Maybe he went to bed."
> 
> Nesta rubbed her eyes and got out from her side of the bed. "I'll go with you."
> 
> Cassian followed his wife to Bay's room. The kid wasn't in there. His bed was made, hadn't been touched. Panic started to settle in him. "Do you think he took off?"

Bay took tentative steps through Nesta and Cassian’s house. It was so nice, so clean. Much different from the cigarette and booze stench of the one-bedroom ramshackle houses he grew up in. He could feel Cassian and Nesta’s eyes on him.

He braced himself for the danger of being in a place without having a way out. But he felt no panic. His Omega was saying the house was safe. He wandered through the house before getting to the kitchen. Bay eyed the smooth marble countertops and the splashes of color throughout the space.

He scented the room, taking in the fresh smell of bread and sunlight. Bay looked through the refrigerator and the lower cupboards before climbing on the counters to look into the upper cupboards. There was real food in them, not canned, or boxed, cheap food that you got from the food pantry.

Closing the cupboards, Bay carefully climbed down and made his way to the dining room, where he looked over the table and infinite about of chairs down a long rectangular table. Why were there so many chairs? There were at least eight. Who was Cassian and Nesta feeding? An army?

“It’s for our neighbors,” a voice said. He turned around to see Nesta standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, chin raised and imperial. Nesta’s steely gaze swept across the chairs. “Azriel and Mor bring the boys over for dinner every Sunday. Although they’re here nearly every day anyways. So you’ll see them around.”

Bay nodded and set off for the rest of the house. The rooms were spacious and clean but worn and comfortable. Evidence of a lived in, welcome space meant for families. It was nice, really nice. When he finally found the library, Bay looked inside with wide eyes, breathing in the scent of paper and books. He may not be able to read, but he loved the smell of books.

He walked in, taking in the dark, sturdy bookcases. There was enough space between the top of the shelves and the ceiling for him to sit up straight. Bay went around the side and tilted his head, studying the width of the bookcase. It was wide enough for him to be able to lay on top of the case.

Bay smiled.

“Like what you see,” a voice drawled. “Our bookcases aren’t as big as the public library’s but it’s pretty close, don’t you think?”

Bay whirled around to see Cassian leaned against the doorframe with his arms and ankles crossed, his uniform changed to a pair of jeans and a gray tee shirt, his hair up high on his head in a bun. Bay’s ears warmed as Cassian’s smile widened. “I like it very much,” Bay said, politely. “Your house is very nice.”

Cassian rose a brow, his hazel-gold eyes glittering in amusement. “Now where were those manners earlier? If I had known all it would take to get them was a bookcase I would have led with that instead of bribing you with  _Rita’s_.”

 Bay glared at the officer. “You make it hard to be polite, you know that?”

Cassian tipped his head back and laughed. He pushed off the doorframe and nodded for Bay to follow him.  With a final look behind at the library, Bay shut the lights off and closed the door behind him.

Bay followed Cassian through the rest of the house, taking in the walls covered with family photos and knickknacks. The wood floors beneath his feet were cool and glossy and rich with color. Cassian stopped in front of a room and turned to Bay. “This is going to be your room. It has an adjoined washroom and a large closet. Perfect for when you have your heats.”

 Bay rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously and went inside. He almost gasped with how large it was. The wooden floors shone and there was a window nook. Bay walked through it, taking it all in before going to the closet and opening it.

 “It’s so big,” Bay said.

Cassian came up beside him and looked in the space. “We figured this would be a good size for when you nest. And with the flooring, there won’t be any lingering scents that will make you paranoid during your heats.”

Bay shuffled his feet and backed away from the closet, his face warming. The thought of Nesting with someone’s scent, his  _mate’s_ scent, made his stomach tighten. Logically, he knew Nesting was just a part of a heat, something that happened right before but said logic was drowned out by the thought of ever having a mate, especially an Alpha. He didn’t have a good track record with them.

 Cassian closed the closet doors and turned to him, his hazel gold eyes searching him, a small wrinkle between his eyebrows. Bay bit his lip, perhaps his uneasiness was shown in his scent, or maybe it was Cassian’s inner cop that sensed it.

Just when Bay thought Cassian would call attention to it, he broke eye contact and swept the room with his gaze, his hands on his hips. “The wall color can change if you want. Got any colors you like?”

Bay blinked. “Really? I can change the wall color?”

Cassian clapped Bay’s shoulder and grinned. “Yeah kid. Any color you want. This white is kind of bland, don’t you think?”

Bay nodded in agreement. “Light green? Would that be okay?”

“Absolutely.”

 Cassian snapped his fingers and started out of the room. “Before I forget, let’s go grab you some clothes. We got some in one of the spare rooms. Nate hasn’t worn them for a few years but they should fit you.”

Bay followed him to the next room. He took in the light purple walls and the soft black duvet on the bed. He found himself going up to the pillows and running his fingers over them before picking it up and scenting it. Apples and Lavender. An overwhelming sense of peace and comfort settled in his body.

Bay could feel Cassian watch him, his ears turned pink and he put the pillow back the way he found it and went up to Cassian and glared at him. “What? It smelled good.”

 Cassian shook his head, grinning, and opened the closet doors. It wasn’t as large as the one in his room but it was still a decent size. Cassian’s eyes scanned the top shelf before grabbing a large carboard box and went to sit it on the bed.

 Cassian opened it and pulled out some clothes. “Why don’t you pick some out and we’ll go from there.”

Bay went through the pile of clothes before picking out a purple hoodie, a green shirt and a pair of soft, dark, worn jeans and went to change in the washroom. Bay pulled the sleeves down past his hands and scented them deeply. The hoodie’s scent was almost gone, as if the owner hadn’t worn it for quite some time, but he could still smell the faint scent of apples and lavender, just like from the bed.

He shook his head, getting the scent out of his nose and threw his dirty clothes in the kitchen garbage can. He liked the feeling of the wood floors beneath his bare feet as he walked to the window and peered out at the blanket of snow outside and the large tree outside.

 It felt too good to be true, like he was just having one of his usual nightmares. Bay was almost afraid he would wake up and have the rug pulled out from beneath him and be back in his father’s house or on the park bench. He pinched himself, just to make sure he was awake.

It was closing in on nighttime; the sky was laden with stars and a setting sun. Hours had past and he hadn’t even realized it. Bay moved from the window and went to find Nesta. He found the Beta hunched over a desk, although at the same time she looked proper and refined.

He hesitated from going further into the room. She looked busy and he didn’t want to interrupt her. But she just lifted a hand and motioned for him to come in. Bay took the seat across from her desk. He held back a sigh at the inability to touch the ground. He hated being so  _short_.

“Bay,” Nesta said, looking up. “Tomorrow we’re going to be spending the day getting you a new wardrobe and things for your room. Do you have any requests? We’ll get you a desk of course, for school, and other things as well. What are your hobbies besides climbing on things?”

Bay’s face warmed. “I like drawing a little bit. I used to borrow my dad’s pens and notebooks to draw.”

“Used to?”

He shuffled in the chair, drawing his leg up to his chest. “I got grounded for it.” More like he got hit for it. “Apparently, they were for his work although I never saw him actually use them. I guess he just didn’t like me using his things.”

“Ah.” Nesta said, sitting back in her chair, her steely eyes darkening. “One of my nephews is an artist, himself. My sister Feyre and I have bought plenty of art supplies over the years. What kind of medium do you prefer? Pens? Markers? Paint?”

 “I don’t know. Whatever I can get.”

Nesta leaned forward and laced her hands over her desk. “In this house, you just need to ask. You run out of supplies or you need something else, you just let me or Cassian know and we’ll make sure to get them for you. Understand?”

Bay nodded.

“What else?”

Bay thought about it. What  _did_ he like to do? He liked drawing. It distracted him and he liked climbing, it got him closer to the sky. “I’m not sure.”

 Nesta nodded. “That’s okay. If you think of something just let one of us know and we’ll go from there.”

 A whistle sounded in the doorway. “You guys hungry? I made spaghetti.”

Bay felt his mouth water. He  _loved_ spaghetti. He pushed out of the chair and made a bee-line for the kitchen. He blocked out the sounds of Cassian’s laughter bouncing off the walls behind him. He was too hungry to be nervous.

He pulled up a chair at the table, waiting for Cassian and Nesta. The couple appeared seconds later with smiles. Nesta pulled up a chair beside his and Cassian disappeared into the kitchen to gather the food.

_It smells so good._

Cassian sat a heaping plate in front of Bay. “Eat up, there’s plenty.”

 He didn’t have to be told twice.

Nesta smiled at Cassian as he sat her plate in front of her. Cassian leaned down to give her a chaste kiss on the lips before disappearing back to get his own food. Nesta looked at Bay, her steely eyes lit with amusement. “I’m guessing you like spaghetti?”

Bay nodded and shoveled a large amount of pasta into his mouth. It was barely down his throat when he said, “Yes, ma’am. Back in Texas, I had a friend who would invite me over for dinner when Dad worked late. Her mom made really good spaghetti.”

 Cassian settled in the seat across from Nesta and dug into his food. “Mine’s better though, right?”

Actually, it was. It had real tomatoes and garlic and onion in it. It made Bay’s stomach happy. Bay just shrugged and shoved another fork full of pasta in his mouth.

They sat and ate and talked for what seemed like hours to Bay. When supper was finally over, Bay helped Cassian and Nesta clean up before taking a shower and changing into a pair of pajamas from the box of clothes.

Around ten o’clock, Bay found himself back in the library. He looked around the space, taking in the large bookcases and the many books on the shelves. He pulled one of the books out and opened it. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to read what was on the page, but the letters kept moving around. It hurt his head.

Bay frowned and closed the book and slid it back on the shelf. Bay looked behind him, checking for Cassian or Nesta, before turning back to the large bookcase. With a foot to each shelf, Bay climbed to the top and slid back up against the wall.

He stifled a yawn, laying down and curled into a ball, facing the wall. His limbs were heavy, tired, and he was so comfortable. He’d close his eyes just for a minute and then go back to his bedroom.

——-

Cassian looked at the red numbers on the alarm clock. It was closing in on midnight. Rolling his neck, Cassian pulled the covers off and swung his legs off the bed. “I’m going to go check on him. He hasn’t made a sound in the past two hours. Maybe he went to bed.”

Nesta rubbed her eyes and got out from her side of the bed. “I’ll go with you.”

Cassian followed his wife to Bay’s room. The kid wasn’t in there. His bed was made, hadn’t been touched. Panic started to settle in him. “Do you think he took off?”

Nesta frowned. “No, I don’t think so. We would have heard him, I think. Or Mor and Azriel would have seen him leave. You had Azriel keep an eye out just in case, right?” He nodded.

 _Wait_. “Library.”

Cassian made his way to the library. The chairs were empty and the floor was clear. He almost sighed and left when he heard a noise coming from atop the bookcase. Cassian looked up to see Nate’s old pajamas and a flash of ash blond hair.  _Bay._

The anxiety in his chest unraveled as he got closer. The sound was coming from Bay. He was facing the wall and he was  _purring_. Cassian’s heart swelled in his chest as he felt himself start to smile. He heard the door open slightly, Nesta no doubt on the other side.

He carefully pulled Bay down from the shelf. The omega curled against him instinctively, his arm going around Cassian, his face nuzzling into his neck. Cassian tightened his grip on Bay and rubbed his back. Bay began purring louder. Tears pricked in the back of his eyes and he pressed a small kiss to his son’s temple. Was this how fathers felt with their children?

Nesta came in then, her eyes were bright and a small smile was on her lips. Cassian smiled down at her. “He was up on the bookcase.”

 She nodded and led them to Bay’s room. He held Bay while Nesta pulled out the comforter and top sheet. Cassian carefully laid Bay in the bed. He smoothed down the omega’s hair and kissed the top of his head while Nesta pulled the blanket and sheet up to cover him.

Cassian stepped back as Nesta curled her hair behind her ear and kissed the top of Bay’s head. “Good night, Bay.” She smiled at him and then took his hand, leading them back to their bedroom.

Cassian climbed into bed beside his wife and held an arm out, to which Nesta curled into him. “He was purring,” she whispered incredulity. “He’s  _happy_.”

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her shoulder. “He is. I think he finally feels safe with someone. He knows we aren’t a threat to him; that we won’t hurt him.”

She covered her mouth, stifling a yawn. “The boys will most likely be over tomorrow night. It is Sunday after all.”

Cassian nodded. “Yup. Plus, your sister is bringing Ash and Lucien over. And I took the day off so I could go with you and the kid to get everything. Hopefully I can stop you from buying out the mall.”

She snorted. “Good luck with that. I plan on buying everything Bay needs at once.” She looked at her nicely trimmed nails. “Perks of being rich, I suppose. I can but Bay everything he needs and  _wants_.”

Cassian chuckled. “Yeah. He nearly went catatonic when I told him he could change the color of his bedroom.”

 “What color did he choose?”

 “Light green.”

 “Perfect. You can paint the room the next time you have the weekend off. I’m sure Nate will want to help you. You know he can’t walk away from the chance at getting his hands in paint. If you’re lucky you won’t even have to pay him.”

Cassian laughed and Nesta yawned again. He settled deeper into the bed. “We better get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”

“Mhm. Goodnight Cassian.”

“Goodnight, Sweetheart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are welcome and appreciated XO


	6. Bate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bay sat at the kitchen nook beside him with a heaping bowl of cereal and a spoon. Cassian grinned at the fifteen inches between Bay's feet and the floor. The omega dug into his cereal so fast Cassian wondered if he even tasted it. Cassian rested his chin on the palm of his hand, "The boys are going to be here tonight for dinner, you up for some company or do you want some more time to get settled in before being bombarded by a bunch of loud mouthed hellions?"
> 
> Bay blinked at him, his sleepy voice incredulous. "You're letting me decide? It's your house."
> 
> Cassian sat down his coffee and gripped Bay's chin, making the omega look him in the eye. "It is your house now and if you need a little bit to get situated, then that is what you need. Understood?" Bay nodded, shrinking back from him. "Now say it so I know you know."

The next morning, Cassian rose before the sun even reached the horizon. The sky was still blanketed with stars although the darkest blues were changing to the lighted shades of dawn. 

Swinging his legs over the bed, Cassian stool, careful to not wake his wife.

Making his way down the hall, Cassian peaked inside of Bay’s room, checking to see if the pup was still there. But when he appeared inside, the bed was empty. Anxiety jumped in his veins as he looked further in the room but there was no trace of Bay other than the unmade bed and his scent: cypress and cloves.

Cassian exhaled shakily as he stalked down the hall, heading for the library. Once again Cassian didn’t find Bay. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Cassian prayed the omega hadn’t taken off after all; it was the middle of winter, far too cold for a ten-year-old little boy to be outside. He hadn’t imagined the boy purring or curling up against his chest. He couldn’t have. Bay. Was.  _Happy._

Cassian went through the other rooms- finding them empty- before standing in front of Nate’s closed door and letting loose a shaky breath. This was the last room besides his and Nesta’s, if Bay wasn’t here, then he really was gone and he would have to tell his wife. And that would break both of their hearts.

Going inside, the growing anxiety in his chest unraveled violently as he found Bay, asleep in Nate’s bed. Cassian quietly went up to the pup and looked down at Bay curled in the purple sheets, one of Nate’s pillows wrapped in his arms and his face pressed into it. Cassian smiled, listening to the purr coming from him. God, it was so  _loud._

Bay must have either woken up in the middle of the night or he slept walked into Nate’s room. Obviously the pup had some kind of fascination with Nate’s scent; especially when he had seen Bay go straight to those purple pillows and scented them.

Cassian brushed Bay’s hair out of his eyes and placed a kiss to his forehead. Bay curled more into the pillow, his purring somehow growing louder. Cassian pulled the blankets up higher around Bay before leaving the room.

Making his way to the kitchen, Cassian flipped on the lights and started the coffee before settling down with the newspaper.

 Half an hour later, Cassian heard footsteps in the hallway. He was fairly certain it wasn’t Nesta which only left Bay. And sure enough, the pup came into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and scenting the room. Cassian grinned at him over his coffee cup. “I didn’t take you for an early riser, Bay.”

Bay glowered up at him, attempting to smooth down his messy hair. “I’m not. I smelled food.” Cassian snorted as Bay wandered through the kitchen, still in Nate’s pajama’s and barefoot. Bay whirled around and faced him, his face uncertain. “Can I have some cereal?”

Cassian arched a brow. “Don’t like waffles?” Bay shrugged, the tips of his ears turning pink. Chuckling, Cassian motioned behind him. “Go ahead, Kid. The cereal and bowls are in the cupboard and the milk is in the fridge.”

He watched Bay get to work, getting the milk out and pulling out a chair and climbing up on it to get at the bowls and cereal. Bay looked over the cereal beneath furrowed brows before finally picking out the Fruit Loops.

Bay sat at the kitchen nook beside him with a heaping bowl of cereal and a spoon. Cassian grinned at the fifteen inches between Bay’s feet and the floor. The omega dug into his cereal so fast Cassian wondered if he even tasted it. Cassian rested his chin on the palm of his hand, “The boys are going to be here tonight for dinner, you up for some company or do you want some more time to get settled in before being bombarded by a bunch of loud mouthed hellions?”

Bay blinked at him, his sleepy voice incredulous. “You’re letting  _me_ decide? It’s your house.”

 Cassian sat down his coffee and gripped Bay’s chin, making the omega look him in the eye. “It is  _your_  house now and if you need a little bit to get situated, then that is what you need. Understood?” Bay nodded, shrinking back from him. “Now say it so I know you know.”

Averting his eyes , the omega took a bite of cereal, avoiding the order. Cassian bit back a growl, they’d have to work up to it, he supposed, and they’d get nowhere if he were afraid of him. “What’s it going to be, Kid?” Cassian said softly.

After what felt like forever, Bay finally looked up at him and cocked his head. Cassian got the distinct impression the omega did not play well with others. Between fighting for shelter and shoplifting food, he supposed Bay felt like he needed to protect himself by not letting anyone near him.

“How many are there?” Bay finally asked, shoving a mouthful of cereal in his mouth.

 “Well,” Cassian said, folding his arms on the table, leaning toward him. “There’s Blake, Adrien, and Nate.” – Bay’s pupils expanded;  _Interesting_. - “They’re Azriel’s boys. And Ash, who lives down the street; He’s Elain’s son.”

Bay folded his own arms on the table and mirrored him. “Okay.”

 Cassian blinked. “Okay?”

“I want to meet them.”

 “Good. Also,” Cassian grinned, “Why were you sleeping in Nate’s room? Not like yours?”

Bay’s face and ears and neck inflamed and Cassian bit back a laugh. The boy’s blushing was adorable. “I woke up in bed and I panicked and forgot where I was and when I went to leave, I just found myself in his room. Sorry. I won’t do it again.”

Cassian arched a brow. He wondered if Bay was deliberately seeking out Nate’s scent or if he didn’t realize he was doing it. Either way, it wasn’t harming anyone. “Do you want that room instead of the one you have?”

Bay hesitated then shook his head. “No. I think the only reason I went in there was because I forgot where I was to begin with.”

He nodded. “Probably a good idea. Nate has the room just the way he wants it.”

Bay snorted and took another bite of cereal. “If he lives next door why does he have a room here?”

Cassian shrugged. “He has two older brothers who don’t know how to leave his art supplies alone so he has a room here where he comes to draw sometimes. He started out just coming over and drawing but he started staying later and later so we just said ‘fuck it’ and gave him one of the guest rooms.”

“He likes to draw?” Bay asked.

Clasping Bay’s shoulder, Cassian grinned. “Yeah kid. He likes to draw.” Bay’s face split into a grin and Cassian nudged at the cereal bowl. “Seconds?”

—-

An hour and two bowls of cereal later, Bay wandered back to Nate’s room and looked around the space. The walls, Bay realized, weren’t just purple. They were a bunch of different shades collaged together.

He went up to the bed and picked up one of the pillows and brought it to his nose, scenting it. His entire body relaxed as the scent of apples and lavender filled him entire being. Whoever this Nate was, he smelled so good. It was so weird.

Bay carefully placed the pillow back and went up to the box of clothes and pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt that still had a faint scent of apples and lavender and put them on before putting the hoodie he was wearing before back on and leaving, going with Cassian and Nesta to the mall.

——–

After Blake’s constant moving around on the couch messing up his drawing, Nate tried kicking his brother off. “I’m trying to draw. Go talk to your girlfriend somewhere else.”

Blake flat out ignored him, leaving Nate to put aside his sketchbook and get up, grabbing Blake’s cellphone and bringing it up to his ear. “Hi, Aurora? Blake has to hang up now, he has to go kiss his reflection and learn how to read. You should break up with him and find someone better.” Nate threw the phone and ran as Blake got to his feet and ran after him, yelling, “I’m going to kick your ass, you little bastard!”

“ _Mom_!” Nate yelled, running down the hall, banking a hard left around the corner. “Blake is threatening me! And he’s  _cussing_!”  
  
“Blake! Nate!” a female voice snapped, somewhere in the house. “Both of you knock it off! And stop  _running in the house_!”

“The brat told my girlfriend to  _break up with me_!” Blake growled.

Nate’s laugh echoed off the walls around him as he ran back to his bedroom, locking the door behind him. “That’s what you get for not getting off the couch, you arrogant jerk!” Blake beat on his door and Nate giggled. “Don’t worry,” Nate cooed through the door, “I’m sure she loves you almost as much as you love yourself.”

A sound slammed on the opposite side of the door, Nate assumed it was Blake’s palm. He pressed his ear to the door, listening to the sound of his brother retreating from his room. Nate sighed and wandered around his room before going to the window.

He looked out, to see Cassian and Nesta carrying bag after bag through the snow. As Nate went to walk away from the window, his eyes snagged on an ash blond boy. His hair was short but his bangs nearly went into his eyes and he had glasses. Nate got closer to his window to get a better look at the boy.  _Aww, he has freckles. How cute._

Nate frowned. He was also wearing  _his_ clothes. Who  _was_ he? Opening his window, a gust of chilly wind blew into his room. Ignoring the cold, Nate leaned out of his window and yelled, “ _Hey_!” The boy froze in place, nearly slipping on the ground, his head whipping around him, trying to discern where the noise had come from.  _Whoops._ “Who are you?!”

The boy’s eyes snapped to his and narrowed, a frown tugging at his lips as he crossed his arms.  _Ah_ , Nate thought,  _He’s one of those grumpy boys._ “Nice sweater!” Nate smirked, waving at him.

Even from where he was, Nate could see a blush rise on the boy’s freckled cheeks; or maybe it was from the cold; but he didn’t think so. Nate couldn’t help but think it was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his thirteen years.

The boy’s mouth opened in a retort but his head snapped to the front of his house as he was being called in. With a nod, the boy gave him a final glace and a small wave and went inside the house. Nate groaned.  _Darn it._

 “ _Moooom_ ,” Nate yelled, closing his window, “I’m going over to Uncle Cassian’s!”

——

Taking off his shoes, Bay went through the house with a warm face. That boy had nearly scared him to death and when that didn’t work, he nearly slipped on ice. He had never seen someone so… pretty with that dark, dark hair and even darker eyes. That was the word to describe that boy. Pretty. And  _obnoxious._

Wandering through the house, Bay wondered which one that boy was. If he were Blake, Adrien or Nate; or maybe Ash.

He found Cassian and Nesta putting things away in his room, Cassian’s face was split with a grin as he turned around and looked at Bay. But when he opened his mouth, a loud knock came from the front door. “I wonder who that could be,” Cassian mused, going to answer it, leaving Bay with Nesta.

 Nesta finished putting the clothes in the dresser and turned to him. “Why don’t you go with him and I’ll finish unpacking your clothes.”

Bay frowned. “You don’t want any help?”

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m sure who just knocked on the door is here to see you anyways. Cassian and I will get everything settled for you. Go on.”

 Bay hesitated and then nodded, going back down the hall to find Cassian talking to the pretty boy from before. Bay hesitantly walked up to them but his nostrils flared the closer he got to the boy and his eyes widened. “It’s  _you_.”

The boy looked down at him and smiled. “It’s me. I’m Nate.”

Before Bay knew what he was doing, he went up further to him and the boy bared his throat, letting him scent him. Bay pressed his nose to his neck; his scent gland, his fingers fisting Nate’s shirt.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of apples and lavender. It was so much more potent than the clothes or even the bedding. Bay felt his entire body relax, felt comfort and safety, felt like he could be happy forever and he bared his own throat, letting Nate scent him.

———–

Nate pressed his nose to the boy’s scent gland at the base of his throat and closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of cloves and cypress deeply. He felt his entire body loosen up, felt inspiration and he felt completely grounded. He felt like he could paint the sky.

 His fingers unwillingly clenched the boy’s - _his_ \- sweatshirt, pulling him closer, scenting him deeper; he was certain he heard a purring sound come from the boy. He had no idea how long they stood there, scenting each other like that but Nate then heard his uncle clear his throat.

That apparently had the boy pulling back from Nate. He reluctantly let go and stepped back, looking at the boy’s flushed ears and freckled cheeks and neck, his hazel-green eyes blown out as he blinked once, twice, and a third time before his pupils returned to normal. “Sorry,” the boy said sheepishly, the purring subsiding. “I didn’t mean to grab onto you like that.”

——

Cassian watched Nate and Bay with deep amusement and awe. His nephew’s eyes were wide and black, his pupils blown out as he stared and stared at Bay, almost as if he were in a trance. He had never seen Nate so still or so off guard. Nate opened and closed his mouth, trying to get words out before finally saying, “Who  _are_ you?”

Bay’s ears somehow grew redder as he timidly smiled up at Nate. “Baylor. But I go by Bay.”  
  
Nate just gazed at Bay before slowly nodding.  Cassian took that as his cue to clasp Nate’s shoulder and grin at him. “Nate, Bay here is a bit of an artist. Why don’t you show him your art stuff?”

Cassian could almost see Nate’s eyes turn into little heart, a smile spreading across his face. “You’re an artist too?”

Bay rubbed his arm and shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself that,” the omega said quietly. “I just like to draw. I’m not that good.”

It just made Nate’s smile widen even further as he gazed at Bay, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Nonsense. If you draw, you’re an artist.” Bay blushed and Nate whirled around to face Cassian. “I’m taking him to my room.”

“You are?” Bay said incredulously.

Nate turned to him, his eyes glowing. “Of course. I want to share my art supplies with my best friend.” Bay blinked and Nate laced Bay’s hand with his own. “Come on. I keep all my best brushes in my room.”

Cassian watched Bay’s eyes go down to their laced hands as Nate pulled him down the hall towards his bedroom. When the boys were out of sight, Cassian shook his head and went back to Bay’s room where Nesta was putting things away. “You will  _not_ believe what I just saw.”

Nesta looked up at him with raised brows. “What happened?”

“That was Nate at the door. Bay came down the hall and he went straight up to him and they just stood there scenting each other, their noses in each other’s necks and hands in their shirts. They stood that way for nearly five minutes. I think they’d still be standing there if I hadn’t snapped them both out of it.”

Nesta’s eyes widened. “Do you think-”

Cassian nodded, shutting Bay’s door so the pups didn’t hear them talking. “I do and I think that Bay’s going to end up having a heat soon after all; he hasn’t been on suppressants long enough to stop a heat with his mate around. We’re going to have to have the talk with him soon if we’re right.”

Nesta nodded, sitting on Bay’s bed. “That poor boy is going to be so embarrassed and so scared. And  _Nate_  is going to be a handful. You know how alphas can get when they’re separated from their mate.”

Cassian sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I do and we’re going to have to talk to Mor and Az. They’re going to have to be the ones to keep Nate at home and away from here. Luckily we went ahead and bought those scent blockers today. I’ll get them installed as soon as possible.”

——

Bay sat on Nate’s bed with his legs crossed as Nate went up to the heavy ebony wood desk, pulling out his art supplies and an abundance of sketchbooks. “Aunt Nesta and Aunt Feyre buy me art supplies all the time. Mostly because I go through them so fast.”

Nate whirled around to face him, his dark eyes bright. “What kinds of mediums do you like? I usually paint although I like to use charcoal and pencils. You wouldn’t  _believe_ how often I get in trouble for getting black smudges on furniture.”

Bay laced his hands in his lap, his cheeks warming. “I don’t know? I use pens and regular pencils a lot. Just whatever I can find.”      

Nate cocked his head and came up to him. “Let me see your hands.”

Bay blinked and held up his hands, palms up. Nate took them in his hands, running his thumb across Bay’s palms. It sent shivers up Bay’s arms. Nate’s eyes lifted it his. Bay was close enough he could see the long dark lashes framing Nate’s face. “I think you would be good with art pencils. Maybe making monochromatic art.”

“Really?” Bay said, looking down at his hands. “How do you know?”

Nate nodded sagely and sat in front of him, crossing his legs, mirroring him. “I just do.” They just sat that way, looking at each other for what felt like forever before Nate pulled on Bay’s – _his_ – sweatshirt, pulling him closer, pressing his nose to Bay’s scent gland.

——–

A few hours after getting Bay’s room set up, Nesta made her way down the hall to Nate’s room. She hadn’t heard anything coming from the pups at all over the span of three hours. Anxiety sat in her stomach as she walked, her husband right behind her.

Carefully opening Nate’s bedroom door, Nesta gasped at the sight in front of her. Bay and Nate were laying on Nate’s bed, curled up against each other, sleeping. She took a step closer, listening to a purr come from Bay as he curled deeper into Nate, his nose in Nate’s neck. Nesta felt Cassian lace their hands as he came up behind her.

She looked up at her husband. “Look at them,” she whispered. Cassian’s eyes were glittering as he looked at the boys. “It’s going to be impossible to separate them.”

He kissed her temple. “I know.”

“You should get dinner started,” she whispered. “The other boys will be here soon. We can talk to Azriel and Mor when they come over. And I’ll ask my sister what we should do about Bay’s heat while you cook.”

Cassian nodded and they left the boys alone and headed to the kitchen. She watched Cassian pull vegetables out of the refrigerator as she dialed her sister’s number. Elain answered on the third ring, “ _Hello?_ ”

“Elain,” Nesta said. “I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and Kudos are welcome and appreciated XO


	7. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What's wrong, Nesta? Can it not wait for a few hours? We'll be over in a few hours for dinner." Her sister's voice was kind, sweet as the roses from her garden in the Spring. "Or is this-"
> 
> Her husband's eyes lifted to hers, glittering in amusement at the sound of impatience coming from her throat. She glared pointedly at him and he chuckled and went about cutting up the tomatoes. He was being so caviler, as if the pup that was now living with them wasn't about to go through something so terrifying for an omega. Let alone a ten-year-old omega.
> 
> "Elain," Nesta said firmly, cutting her off. "It's important. Bay- I think he's going to have a heat soon and I need to know what to expect."

“ _What’s wrong, Nesta? Can it not wait for a few hours? We’ll be over in a few hours for dinner.”_  Her sister’s voice was kind, sweet as the roses from her garden in the Spring. “ _Or is this-_ ”

Her husband’s eyes lifted to hers, glittering in amusement at the sound of impatience coming from her throat. She glared pointedly at him and he chuckled and went about cutting up the carrots. He was being so caviler, as if the pup that was now living with them wasn’t about to go through something so terrifying for an omega. Let alone a ten-year-old omega.

“Elain,” Nesta said firmly, cutting her off. “It’s important. Bay- I think he’s going to have a heat soon and I need to know what to expect.”

“ _Nesta. Are you_ sure _? Bay’s on suppressants! The likelihood of Bay having a heat after having them in his system is highly improbable.”_

Nesta made her way down the long hallway to her nephew’s room. She put her hand on the doorknob and paused. She could hear Bay purring from outside the room! A part of her was happy that Bay felt safe enough with her nephew to be sleeping in the same bed with him, let alone  _purring_. But that happiness was drowned out by the panic that a ten-year-old and a thirteen-year-old had found their mates and how that would alter their futures.

She carefully pushed the door open to see Bay gnawing on Nate’s shoulder. Her breath hitched and she whispered into the phone, “Yes. I’m absolutely positive.” She should wake them up and separate them but she didn’t have the heart to do it.

“ _We’re on our way_ ,” Elain said.

Nesta just hung up and she carefully closed the door and made her way back down to the kitchen. Cassian had moved from the tomatoes to start cooking the hamburger. Her husband looked over his shoulder at her with glittering eyes, “They still sleeping?”

She sighed and went about getting the tomato juice out for the chili. “Yes and Bay is gnawing on Nate’s shoulder.”

  Cassian snorted. “Really? And Nate’s just sleeping through it? That kid is one hell of a heavy sleeper.”

She shot him a look. “It isn’t funny Cassian! What if he bites down and a bond mark appears?”

Cassian turned from the skillet and cupped her face. “Nes. Either it will happen or it won’t. We can’t control it and if we tried it would backfire immensely. The best we can do is be there.” He kissed her brow. “Everything will work out fine. Promise.”

She glowered at the nickname and then slumped her shoulders to lean into her husband. She inhaled his scent and instantly her nerves were soothed.  He was right. There wasn’t anything they could do short of separating the boys and that wasn’t an option. She would never deprive the pups from their mates. The best she could do was be there for them. Nesta got to her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips when the doorbell rang.

Her husband pulled away from her and grinned wryly. “Saved by the bell. Better go let Elain, Lucien and the little monster in. I’m sure he’ll want to meet Bay.”

Nesta snorted and started down the hall towards the front door. She opened it and Ash barreled through before it was open all the way and he whirled on her and she pointed to his feet. “Boots. Off. I don’t want you tracking in snow.”

Ash’s freckled face scrunched up and he kicked off his boots as Elain and Lucien came in and took off their own shoes.  Elain smiled at her. “Where is he?”

“He’s sleeping in Nate’s room-”

The eleven-year-old took off in a dead run through the living room and down the hall straight to what was no doubt Nate’s room. Nesta exchanged glances with her sister and then followed after the pup.

—–

The bedroom door burst open and Bay snapped up into a sitting position and whipped his head around. Did his dad find him? Was he going to make him go home? Bay’s blood pounded in his ears, his heart pounded in his chest. He didn’t want to go home. Cassian  _promised_ he wouldn’t have to go home.

Next to him Nate sat up, a growl tearing through his throat. He couldn’t help but shrink against him as a someone barged through the door. The fear unraveled violently in his chest as he looked at a redheaded boy grinning widely at him. He nearly threw up from the relief that it wasn’t his father.

“Ash!” Nate yelled. “Get  _out_!”

Bay just stared and stared at the boy as he climbed up on Nate’s bed. “Finally, someone to hang out with that isn’t stupid  _Nate._ ” His smiled widened and he held out a hand. “I’m Ash. Your new best friend.”

Bay’s eyes went down to Ash’s hand and narrowed. His heart finally slowed down and he looked up at the boy. “Do you always just barge in someone’s room and scare them out of their minds?!” Bay shouted. “I thought you were my dad!”

“Does your dad make it a habit of barging in people’s houses to see if he can find his son in another boy’s bed?” Ash asked, eyeing the distance between him and Nate. “I wouldn’t worry. Uncle Cassian is a cop. You’re safe here.”

“Of course he’s safe here,” Nate said, annoyed. He picked up his pillow and threw it at Ash. “But  _you_ aren’t. Get  _out._ ”

 Bay’s face burned. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, let alone in a  _boy’s_  bed. Or with one. He looked at the small space between him and Nate and he inched away; Nate frowned. “You’re a jerk.”

Ash just kept on grinning and he shrugged. “Yeah I know. You’ll get used to it and then we can be best friends. Do you like video games?” Bay gaped at him and Ash frowned. “What? Is there something on my face? What’s your name?”

“Bay,” he said weakly.

 Ash’s smile returned. “Nice name.” Bay’s face somehow got warmer and he glowered at him.  _Shut up, Ash._ Ash tipped his head back and laughed and laughed. “Oh. You’re so grumpy. I love it. It’s a nice change from all of them trying to kiss their reflection.”

Bay put his face in his hands and sighed deeply. Did he say that out loud? Nate just pulled him into a sideways hug. Bay could feel a rumple of laughter in Nate’s chest. “Oh like you don’t do that too, you arrogant ginger.”

“Shut  _up_ , Nate.” Ash glared.

“Ashton!” A woman scowled.

All three of their heads snapped up to see two women at the door. Bay blinked.  _Dr. Archeron?_  She had said she had a son his age but he hadn’t thought that she was related to  _Nesta_. They had the same hair! Ash climbed down from the bed. “Mom! This is Bay!” Ash turned his head and smiled at him. “He’s my new best friend.”

Bay just blinked at him. Not one but two boys wanted him to be their best friend? They literally know nothing about him! What’ll happen when they realize he’s an omega? Will they not want to be his friend anymore? Male omegas might be prized and sought after but most were viewed as a joke. Why would they want to be his friend?

Both Nate and Ash frowned at him. Did his scent change or did it show on his face?

Elain just smiled at him. “It’s good to see you again, Bay. Sleep well?”

Nate wrapped his arm around him and smiled at him, his dark eyes glittering. “Like a baby, right Baylor?” Bay frowned at him and Nate blinked and removed his arm. “Sorry. Do you not like me calling you that?”

“You can call me that,” Bay said. “It’s okay.”

  Nate’s smile returned and Ash looked at him. “What about me?”

  Bay glared at him. “No. Not you.”

“What makes Nate so special,” Ash grumbled, crossing his arms. Nate stuck his tongue out at Ash and Bay blushed. He didn’t know why but he liked Nate saying his name. It didn’t remind him of his dad like it usually does when someone said it. It felt right coming from Nate. “It’s because he met you first, isn’t it?” Bay rolled his eyes.

Nesta and Elain exchanged looks and Nesta stepped forward with a raised chin. “Boys. Go get cleaned up for dinner. Cassian’s making chili.”

Bay’s stomach growled. He didn’t have to be told twice. Bay was up and out of the bed in seconds and making his way to the kitchen with Nate and Ash behind him.

—-

Elain watched the boys race down the hallway with a smile. Ash had always been good at making friends, just like her and his father. But she had never seen him so excited to meet Bay.

And Bay… that pup had so many bruises on him when she saw him in her clinic and he was so small and malnourished and as skittish as a cat. But here he was, running down the hall with her son and Nate not even forty-eight hours later. How interesting.

Nesta looked at her. “Was I right?”

 “I believe so,” Elain murmured. “Why don’t you show me where his room is?”

Her sister nodded and took her to Bay’s room. Elain inspected the space, taking note of the wood floors and the large closet. “This is perfect. Hard wood floors for are optimal for keeping other scents away during a heat. As you know, during a heat Omega’s sense of smell is heightened and lingering scents can make them paranoid and this space is perfect for a nest.” She looked back at her sister. “I’m assuming you will gather pillows and clothes and such with Nate’s scent with Morrigan’s help?”

“Yes, Cassian and I will talk to Mor and Azriel tonight after dinner, when the pups are downstairs watching movies.”

Elain nodded and closed the closet doors, looking back at her sister. “Bay will feel very, very hot. Clothing will be very sensitive to his skin  and he’ll want to take them off. Maybe find some clothes that are cotton based or maybe silk if he can tolerate them.” Nesta nodded and Elain continued, “He will produce a natural lubrication called slick. It’s the body’s way of preparing itself for impregnation. I’m assuming Bay is going to stay _on_  suppressants?” Nesta nodded again. “Good. His heats need to happen every two to three years at most. He will then have to come off his suppressants for those few days. Otherwise it is unhealthy and it could hurt him. And when he  _is_ on suppressants, he can still get pregnant during the times that he  _would_ have had a heat, which would have been every few months, lasting between three to five days at a time. Bay will need to stay in his room during a heat. Understand?”

Nesta nodded curtly. “What else? Will I be able to help him? At all?”

Her sister’s voice wavered and was so small for someone who was so sure of herself. Who raged and was steel. Bay was changing her, just as Cassian had. For the better. It warmed her heart.

 “You and just you. Not Cassian, if it can be helped. Because you are a beta you won’t be nearly as affected by Bay’s scent. There will be periods between cycles during those few days where Bay is completely lucid and you need to make sure he gets fluids and eats. But mostly fluids. He needs the hydration. When you go into his room you need to wear clothing that has no scent and is clean, preferably cotton or silk. Do not wear perfume and go up to him slowly and try to not startle him. You have scent blockers, yes?”

“Yes. Cassian will install them tonight.”

 “Good. Then everything will be okay.”

“He’ll be so scared,” Nesta whispered, leaning against the wall. “How do I explain to a ten-year-old little boy what he’s going to go through? He’s just got out of an abusive home and now he’s going through something so substantial with strangers in the house.”

Elain took her hands. “You won’t be strangers forever. You  _will be_ his mother. Cassian  _will be_  his father. You just got to give it some time.”

“No I won’t,” Nesta whispered. “Not really.”

Elain wiped the tears from Nesta’s cheeks. “Just because you don’t have his blood doesn’t make it not true. I’ve read Bay’s file. His mother died in childbirth. He’s never had that bond that a woman has with her son and I know Bay will have that bond with you. Just like how I have one with Ash.”

—–        

Blake knocked once on the door once and walked into his uncle’s house. He could smell the chili cooking and he could hear running through the house, causing the pictures on the walls to shake. He just rose his brows when he heard his uncle bellow, “Stop running through the house!”

He exchanged glances with Adrien as they made their way to the kitchen, followed by their parents. He sat at the counter and answered a text from his girlfriend when Cassian looked over his shoulder at him. “Hey, Prince Charming, make yourself useful and set the table.”

Blake looked up at him and grinned. “Hey, I’m plenty useful.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said dryly, not looking up from his own phone. “Just ask Aurora.”

His mother and Cassian burst out laughing and Blake shot his brother a look. “Shut up, you  _dick_. At least I have a girlfriend.”

Adrien looked up from his phone, completely unimpressed with his jab. “As you well know, you don’t need a girlfriend to get laid.” Cassian snorted. “You’re a bigger slut than I am. I’m sure you’ve fucked half the cheerleaders at school,” Adrien said lightly. Well, he wasn’t wrong. A faint smirk spread across Adrien’s face. “I really hope Aurora knows that before she gets jumped by one of your jealous ex’s. Or worse, an STD.” Blake debated throwing a glass at his head. He suspected it wouldn’t actually do any damage.

“Don’t even think about it,” Their father said. Blake sighed.

Their mother choked on her wine and coughed, just to be clapped on the back by their father. She inhaled deeply and gave him and Adrien a stern look. “I really hope you two are being safe. I’m too young to be a grandmother.”

Both he and his brother hung their heads. Leave it to their mother to bring up birth control in the middle of getting dinner ready. “Mother,” Blake groaned. “I’m eighteen. Trust me, I don’t want a kid.”

Just when she was about to say something Nate barged into the kitchen with another boy and Ash. Blake’s eyes met the boy’s as he scanned the kitchen, looking at all of them. Blake’s brows rose as he watched the boy shrink closer to his brother. Nate had nearly five inches on him and he just smiled at the boy and slung his arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. Ash frowned.

“Hey Bay,” his father said, leaning back against the counter, looking between the boys carefully with a small smile on his face. “I see you’ve met Nate and Ash.” Bay blushed and nodded slightly.

“Obviously,” Ash huffed, hoping up on the chair at the table. “When’s supper done. I want food.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Officer Verrum,” Bay said quietly.

Their father snorted and said, “The one with a phone attached to his hand is Adrien and the blond is Blake and the other blond is my wife, Mor. The redhead is Lucien, Elain’s husband.” Blake and Lucien grinned and his brother barely looked up from his phone. “You can call me Azriel if you want. Or Az.”

 As if on cue, their mother smiled down at Bay. “It’s nice to meet you, honey. Welcome to the family.” Bay smiled tentatively and his mother pulled him into a hug; Bay squeaked and she pulled apart from him, her dark eyes bright. “You need anything don’t hesitate to ask, understood?”

Bay nodded and Cassian said. “Alright guys. Dinner’s ready.”

——-

Bay spent the meal sitting between Ash and Nate, eating and listening to the family talk and bicker. He had usually spent dinners alone or with his father. He had preferred it when it was alone, when he didn’t have to fight the urge to get up and run when his father cut him a look for chewing too loudly or for maintaining eye contact for too long. 

But  _this_ family… it was so different. They were loud and obnoxious and they laughed and laughed at each other and  _with_ each other. Well, except for Adrien. He was quieter and watching and immersed in his phone. It unsettled Bay. He couldn’t get a read on him.

 “Baylor,” Nate said, looking at him, snapping Bay out of his assessment of Adrien. “Are you going to go to school with us? At Maas Academy?”

Bay opened and closed his mouth and frowned. He didn’t know. He hadn’t been to school before. His father taught him, well, he taught him when he felt like it. He couldn’t read, at least not very well, the letters kept moving, but he did the best he could with the curriculum, if only to not draw attention to himself from the state. He looked at Nesta and she said, “He will be. Yes. I’ll be going to the school to enroll him in a few days.”

Warmth spread itself in Bay’s chest. He had always wanted to go to school, had wanted to sit in a classroom and learn. But a small part of himself filled with dread. He wasn’t good at getting along with people, never had been. He’d been in plenty of fights with some of the kids on the street. He’d even gotten his shoulder cracked from being slammed into pole in the park. It still hurt whenever it got too cold.

Ash shot his fist into the air. “Yes! Finally! School is going to be actually worth going to!” Bay felt himself blush as Ash gripped his shoulders and shook him. “ _It’s going to be so fun_!”

Laughs echoed around the table as Ash nearly gave him whiplash.  _I_ , Bay thought decisively,  _could get used to this_. He could get used to the warm laughs and the bickering and teasing. The concept of happiness was about as foreign to him as an eighth day of the week. Something that just didn’t happen.

A startle laugh escaped him and he caught Elain smiling at Nesta from the corner of his eye. He pulled out of Ash’s reach and pointed his spoon at him. “Are you always this weird?”  
  
Nate leaned in and whispered, “It’s because he was dropped on his head when he was a baby. It made him incapable of not being annoying.” Cassian and Blake coughed, covering up their laughs, even Adrien’s lips curled up faintly.

Bay smiled at Nate when Ash said, “Shut  _up_ , Nathaniel. Your input wasn’t needed.”

 Nate just shrugged and took a bite of chili. “Sure it was. How else was Baylor supposed to know why you’re an idiot?” Ash muttered under his breath as Nate turned to his mother. “Can I stay the night? There’s no school tomorrow.” Nesta’s head whipped to face Elain in a silent question. Elain just nodded and the tension in Nesta’s shoulders disappeared.

Mor’s red lips curled into a smile, her dark eyes glittering down at her son. “If I say no are you just going to sneak over?”

“Just let him,” Blake drawled, lacing his hands on top of his golden head. “that way I can get some peace and quiet and not have to worry about the brat trying to talk my girlfriend into breaking up with me again.”

“Why is she with you again?” Adrien asked, not looking up from his phone. “It can’t be for the stimulating conversations.”

“Hey,” Blake glared, “I contribute plenty to our relationship.”

“What’s that?” Adrien asked, taking a bite of chili. “Sex?”

“ _Mooom_ ,” Nate groaned over the one-sided squabbling of his older brothers. ” _Please_. I don’t wanna go home with  _them_.” Nate turned his dark eyes to Bay and he smiled. “I want to stay the night with my best friend.” Bay blushed and looked away. Nate nudged him with his shoulder. “You would not  _believe_ the movie collection we got. Every. Disney. Movie.  _Ever._ ”

“Wait, what?!” Ash demanded, slamming a hand down on the table, shaking it. “If  _Nate’s_ staying the night, then so am I!”

The two cousins started arguing with each other, their voices getting higher and higher. Bay had to force himself to not put his hands over his ears. Instead he reached over and clamped his hand over Ash’s mouth. “ _Shush_.”

Ash’s russet eyes glittered and he licked Bay’s hand. Bay grimaced and wiped it on Ash’s cheek.  _Ew. Ew. Ew._  Ash’s freckled nose wrinkled and he wiped his cheek on his shoulder. “I really should have thought that through,” he muttered.

“You really should have,” Bay said unapologetically. Ash just snorted; Nate laughed.

Cassian forward leaned on his elbows, giving him a wolfish smile. “Do you  _want_  them to stay the night?”

He almost responded with a ‘ _Really?’_  but he caught himself and then just nodded. He did want them to stay the night. He couldn’t place it, why he liked Nate and Ash so much. Or why he really liked Ash at all. He was so loud and he was such a  _jerk_. Logic dictated that he should find the guy annoying but Bay just wanted to be his friend.

The two cousins exchanged looks and then instantaneously got down from their chairs and ran through the house. Bay heard a door slam open and feet flying down stairs and choruses of arguing coming from below them.

“Stop running in the house!” Cassian barked, leaning back in his chair, yelling out of the dining room. “You two break something and you’re in for a world of hurt!”

Bay tensed. Would Cassian hit them for breaking something? Would he hit  _him_ for breaking something? His dad would, his dad  _had._  Bay swallowed and suddenly Azriel leaned over and murmured in a voice only he could hear, “It’s just a figure of speech. The worst that would happen would be Cassian taking away Nate’s art supplies and Ash’s video games. No one’s going to get hurt.”

——

Azriel watched the pup’s shoulders loosen and nod almost imperceptibly. The omega might be on suppressants but his own sense of smell was more sensitive than most and he could smell the distress on Bay. So could Adrien, seeing as how his son looked up from his phone and looked directly at Bay with slightly furrowed brows, a hint of apprehension in his hazel-gold eyes.

  Nesta looked over at him and nodded slightly, showing her thanks, before looking at Bay. “Are you done eating?” Bay looked down at his empty bowl and nodded. “Go put it in the dishwasher and head on downstairs. I’m sure the boys are waiting for you.”

“Or they’ve killed each other,” Lucien said dryly. Elain smiled and elbowed her husband. Lucien just pressed a kiss on her shoulder.

  Nesta rolled her eyes before resting her gaze on Blake and Adrien. “You two go downstairs as well.”

Blake just leaned back against his chair and rose a brow, Adrien though got up, surprisingly, and stalked down to the basement without so much as a word to any of them. “I don’t want to go downstairs with the brats.”

Nesta leveled a look with Blake, her face cold and imperial. A queen. “Then go home,” she said flatly. “We need to talk to your parents.”

Blake’s head fell back and he sighed deeply. “ _Fine_ ,” he said, swinging his gaze to Mor. “I’m going home. Can Aurora come over?”

Mor arched a brow and put down her wineglass. “You want me to let you have a girl over while we’re not there to supervise?”

“Dear god, Mother. We’re not going to have sex,” Blake glowered. “Not when you could come home any minute.  _Jeez._ I may be blond but I’m not  _that_  blond. Give me a little credit. If I wanted to fuck her I’d ask you if I could go to Liam’s house and go to hers instead.”

Cassian and Lucien laughed outright and he held back a sigh. It was easy for them to laugh, they didn’t have three teenage alphas in their house, two of which being sexually active. God save them when the day came when Nate was as well. At least he didn’t have to worry about a daughter.

Mor met his gaze and rose her brows in silent question, asking him if he was alright with Blake having Aurora over without either of them being there. He  _liked_ Aurora. She had an uncanny ability to be able to straighten Blake out a handful of words. Although he suspected a lot of it had to do with she being his mate. Blake and his arrogance usually went hand in hand.

Azriel nodded and he looked at his son. “You better not be lying.”

 Blake’s face broke into a grin and he held up two fingers. “Scouts honor. These pants aren’t coming off, not even if she asks nicely, which you  _know_ she will.”

Azriel ignored the laughter rising from Cassian and Lucien and nodded towards the kitchen door, “Just get out of here before I change my mind.”

Blake took that as his cue to get up and through the door in three seconds flat. Azriel looked through the window to see Blake already on his cell phone, calling Aurora. He shook his head and looked at Nesta and Cassian. “What was it you wanted to talk to us about?”

——      

Mor leaned back in her chair while Nesta and Cassian caught her and Azriel up with everything happening between Bay and Nate. She traced the top of her wineglass with a finger and cocked her head in thought. “Are you  _sure_? I mean… the pups haven’t even hit puberty yet.”

Elain reached forward and took a drink from her own glass. “Both of the boys have distributed typical mate behavior towards the other. Bay was put on Suppressants over forty-eight hours ago and his scent is masked but it would seem Nathaniel is still drawn to it. Same with Bay, seeing as Nate has been on Suppressants for far longer. Nesta also witnessed Bay gnawing on him in his sleep.  _And_ ” Elain added. “How many people do you know that Nate will let around his art supplies?”

Mor paused and looked at Azriel. Her husband’s brows were furrowed in thought as he leaned back in his chair. Nate wasn’t one to share his art supplies with anyone. In fact, Nate usually went off on his brothers when they took them without asking.

She looked back at Cassian and Nesta. “Okay. So what are we going to do? I’m assuming we’re not going to tell the pups they’re mates. They’re too young to know something that substantial. It could affect their entire futures.”

Nesta shook her head. “No. I don’t want them to know. Let them have a normal childhood and friendship. They both deserve that.”

 Mor couldn’t help but think of how Bay shrunk against Nate when they came into the kitchen, and the way Nate had his arm around Bay’s shoulder protectively, pulling him closer. “What’s his secondary gender?” Mor asked, taking a drink from her wineglass. “Bay’s? He’s too small to be an Alpha.”

“He’s an Omega,” Nesta said.

Mor and Lucien choked on their wine. “ _Really_? Has he… presented? Or had a heat?” What were the odds that Nesta and Cassian took in a  _male_ omega off the streets. And he happened to be her son’s mate?

Cassian leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. “He said he presented a few months ago around his birthday. And,” Cassian added. “I’m sure he’s going to have a heat soon. He’s been submerging himself with Nate’s scent. I think soon he’ll start nesting.”

Mor clicked her nails on the table. “I’m sure I can get some of Nate’s clothing or such for his nesting. Maybe a blanket or a pillow or something.”

Elain nodded. “The more the better. Bay’s so young to have a heat. His home life jumpstarted everything. The stress and the malnourishment had him presenting so much sooner than most omegas. He’s only ten, he’s far too young to use a heat the way it was meant. He’ll be in pain.”

 Mor’s heart sank for the omega as she remembered the healing bruise on his face. “I’ll get as much as I can.”

“How much pain,” Nesta asked quietly.

 Elain smiled sadly, her warm brown eyes soft as she squeezed her sister’s hand. “Not so much as pain but discomfort. He’s going to want to touch someone, he’ll want that skin to skin contact. Just make sure he’s surrounded by a comforting scent, Nate’s, and he should be fine.”

—–

Adrien stalked down the stairs to the basement. Nate and Ash were arguing over which Disney movie they wanted to watch. Bay just watched them quietly, his hazel-green eyes deeply amused. Adrien rolled his own eyes as he sat on the couch with his phone, texting Eric about the upcoming party.

The boys’ arguing just kept getting louder and Adrien looked up. “For fucks sake, just put in  _The Little Mermaid_.” He cut Bay a look. “Have you seen it?” Bay’s ears reddened and he shook his head. “What kind of kid hadn’t seen  _The Little Mermaid_? It’s a classic.”

Bay just shrugged and looked away. Adrien frowned as he picked up discomfiture in Bay’s scent. “We didn’t own very many cartoons,” Bay said quietly. “Dad said they were a waste of money.” Adrien shook his head. What a  _dick._

“What?!” Nate and Ash yelled.

The two scrambled to the DVD tower and grabbed at the movie. Ash grabbed it first and he popped it in. “You’re going to love it,” Ash said, sitting next to Bay in the mound of pillows and blankets. “Ariel’s a babe.” Nate made a gaging nose as he cuddled up next to Bay. Ash glared at him over Bay’s head. “What?! Ask Adrien. It’s true.”

Adrien blatantly ignored them and turned on the movie before returning to his phone. Finally, as the movie started, the boys started to quiet down. Adrien eventually put his phone down and watched the movie as well. He had loved the movie ever since he was little and his mother watched it with him whenever he was sick.

——–

 A few hours and a half bottle of wine later, Cassian went down to check on the boys. Adrien was passed out on the couch with his arm thrown over his eyes and the three younger pups were out on the floor. Cassian’s eyes went to Bay curled up beside Nate, his glasses askew on his face.

He smiled and quietly went over to carefully pull them off the pup’s face and put them on the television console. Bay instinctively curled deeper into Nate at the disturbance, his purring growing louder.

Cassian turned out the lights and flipped the television off before going back upstairs to the rest of the adults. “They’re all passed out.”

Azriel rose a brow. “Even Adrien?”

He nodded and Mor snorted, wrapping her arm around Azriel. “Of course he is. How do you think I got him to fall asleep when he was little? Put in a cartoon and let it do its magic.” Lucien snorted.

Elain and Lucien left first. Azriel and Mor stayed and they talked for a bit longer about the boys and their game plan for how they were going to deal with Bay and his heat and keeping Nate away. They eventually settled on telling Nate Bay was sick. Although he had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t do much good.

 Cassian kissed Mor’s cheek as they left leaving him with his wife. “Why don’t you get ready for bed. I’m going to go ahead and install those scent blockers in Bay’s room. It shouldn’t take me more than fifteen minutes.”

Nesta nodded and covered her mouth, hiding a yawn. He kissed her temple before heading back down to Bay’s room. Fifteen minutes and three installations later, Cassian finished and he went to take a shower.

When he finally climbed into bed, Nesta had a book in her hands. She sat it on her nightstand and turned to him. “Everything done?”

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “Yup. All installed and ready to go.” She nodded and curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest. “Good night, Nesta.”

“Good night, Cassian.”


	8. Nesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days later, Cassian was sitting at the kitchen nook with a cup of coffee and the Sports Page, specifically the Hockey section. They all had settled into a comfortable routine. Nate and Ash were over almost every single day and Bay was with them almost constantly. 
> 
> And while the little hellions were at school, Nesta stayed home with Bay every other day, teaching him to read. He, himself, had tried to get him to do it, on the days he stayed, but Bay’s stubbornness had him refusing to budge. Thank God for Bay’s attachment to Nesta and her ability to rationalize the hell out of things.
> 
> He had been waiting for the pups to ask why Bay hadn’t been starting school yet, though none of them had asked. He was enrolled and would start after the heat that he knew was right around the corner.
> 
> Cassian had started to take a drink from his coffee when Bay came through the kitchen with Nate’s blanket over his head and wrapped around him. Cassian leaned forward to see the blanket dragging across the floor as Bay wandered through the space. He couldn’t help but smile, the pup was just so small. “Bay,” Cassian asked with deep amusement. “What are you doing?”

Days later, Cassian was sitting at the kitchen nook with a cup of coffee and the Sports Page, specifically the Hockey section. They all had settled into a comfortable routine. Nate and Ash were over almost every single day and Bay was with them almost constantly. 

And while the little hellions were at school, Nesta stayed home with Bay every other day, teaching him to read. He, himself, had tried to get him to do it, on the days he stayed, but Bay’s stubbornness had him refusing to budge. Thank God for Bay’s attachment to Nesta and her ability to rationalize the hell out of things.

He had been waiting for the pups to ask why Bay hadn’t been starting school yet, though none of them had asked. He was enrolled and would start after the heat that he knew was right around the corner.

Cassian had started to take a drink from his coffee when Bay came through the kitchen with Nate’s blanket over his head and wrapped around him. Cassian leaned forward to see the blanket dragging across the floor as Bay wandered through the space. He couldn’t help but smile, the pup was just so  _small_. “Bay,” Cassian asked with deep amusement. “What are you doing?”

The tiny omega went up to the fridge and looked inside with pursed lips before grabbing an apple from the shelf and looking at him beneath the blanket. “Nothing. Getting an apple.”

Cassian arched his brows. “Why are you dragging around Nate’s blanket? Cold?”

Bay blushed and just walked out of the room with the apple, the ebony blanket getting caught by the door. With a few tugs, Bay managed to get it free and he disappeared.

Cassian blinked and blinked again, sitting his coffee down as he started to think about what just happened. He pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and dialed his wife, resting the phone between his ear and his shoulder.

She answered on the third ring. “ _I’m assuming this is about Bay, otherwise you’d better have a good reason to be bugging me while I’m at work_.”

He suppressed an eyeroll and splayed his fingers on the countertop. “It’s started. He’s Nesting and I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”

“ _Are you sure?_ ”

Cassian signed, “Yeah. The pup is dragging around Nate’s comforter.”

She inhaled sharply and he heard a rustle of paper from her end of the line. “ _I’m on my way home, don’t do anything until I get there_.”

* * *

Bay took a bite from the green apple and brought the blanket up to his nose, scenting it as he walked through the house.  He sighed contently at the wonderful smell of apples and lavender. It was so nice, so relaxing.

He pulled the blanket around him some more and wandered down the hallway to his room, going to the closet where he started carefully piling up pillows and blankets. Bay pulled the blanket around him tighter and knelt, rearranging the pillows. He frowned. He needed more. He needed a shirt.

At that, Bay got back to his feet and readjusted the blanket around him and walked down the hallway to Nate’s bedroom, where his best friend was drawing.

* * *

After putting her work in her briefcase, Nesta went out to her silver BMV and pulled out of the parking lot and drove the forty minutes to her and Cassian’s house. She tapped the steering wheel in attempt of calming her jumbling nerves.

They had been waiting for this, for Bay to start getting ready for his heat. She glanced at the clock, it was closing in on four in the afternoon which meant that Nate would be over. Ash had a tutor on Wednesdays after school.

 She reigned in a sigh. Nate didn’t know Bay was an omega, but he would by tonight if he’s over when Bay started Nesting. Most assumed someone was either an Alpha or Beta considering Omegas were somewhat rare.

She could just imagine the four-foot- five omega dragging around the king size comforter throughout their two-story house. She felt herself start to smile despite the tension sitting in her chest. For so long she had wanted a baby of her own and Bay… that pup came into her life when she had been so ready to give up. It gave her hope.

* * *

Loud music blasted from Nate’s headphones as he leaned further into the desk, carefully erasing the extra lines around the eye of his portrait.  _Why_ was it so difficult to draw eyes? He ran his tongue over one of his elongated canines and squinted at the paper.

Suddenly a weight pressed itself against his neck and nuzzled at him. Nate nearly jumped at the sudden touch and pulled his headphones down and whirled around to see Baylor looking at him with blown out eyes and his blanket over his head and wrapped around him. “Can I help you?” Nate smiled.

Baylor just leaned over and pressed his nose to his scent gland, nuzzling him. Nate’s eyes closed as his senses were enveloped in cypress and cloves, a soft growl coming from his throat as he leaned closer into his friend’s scent gland. Why did he smell so nice?

His eyes snapped open at the tugging of his purple sweatshirt. Baylor was trying to pull it off him. Nate’s brows arched as he looked at Baylor frowning and still pulling at it. “I’m guessing you want my hoodie?”

Blush bloomed on Baylor’s golden freckled cheeks and he nodded. Nate just unzipped the jacket, shrugged it off and handed it to him. Baylor’s eyes lit up as he took it from him and brought the fabric up to his nose as he turned around and disappeared through his bedroom door.

Nate blinked.  _What the-_

He just shook his head and turned back to his drawing, pulling his headphones up to his ears once more. Nate studied the nearly identical eyes and frowned. They weren’t identical  _enough_. He pulled out a kneaded eraser and erased the left eye and started over.

* * *

Bay walked back to his room with his face buried in Nate’s sweatshirt, heavily scenting the apples and lavender. A purr was in his throat as he made his way to the closet and put the sweatshirt carefully on the soft pile of blankets and pillows.

He cocked his head and studied the pile. He needed more. Bay got back up to his feet and went back down the hall to Nate’s room. His friend’s black hair was tied up into a bun on top of his head, showing the expansion of his neck as he leaned into his desk, drawing.

He frowned and ran his tongue over an elongated canine. For some reason his teeth were aching again. It was almost as if they wanted him to bite Nate. He shook his head, clearing the thought away as he went up to his friend’s closet. He looked at the row of clothes and put his hand over his mouth, smothering a yawn.

Bay ran his hand over the fabrics of Nate’s clothes. The denim was too rough. He grabbed shirt after shirt off the hangers and piled them into his arms as he walked back down to his room with his face buried in the shirts. They still carried the apple and lavender scent.

He went into his room, past the bed and to the dresser to the closet where a pile of Nate’s and his clothes and pillows and blankets were and carefully arranged the shirts into the pile before wrapping himself back up in the large blanket and walked back to the kitchen across the house.

* * *

Cassian looked up from his paper at the sound of the kitchen door opening again. He looked to see Bay coming back into the kitchen with Nate’s blanket over his head and wrapped around him. “Cassian?” He asked in a small voice.

Cassian looked him over, trying to not appear worried. He racked his brain trying to remember what an omega went through during Nesting. He had participated in heats with a few omegas over the years before Nesta, but they were all female and he wasn’t around when they were Nesting. “What’s wrong?”

 “Can I have something to eat?”

Cassian smiled. Increased appetite. “Sure thing kid. What do you want?”

Bay pulled the blanket closer around him and cocked his head. “Some cereal?” He pushed out a stool with his foot and motioned for Bay to sit. The omega scratched at his face and sat on the stool as Cassian got up. “Thank you.”

Cassian kissed the top of Bay’s blanketed head and went over to the cupboard. “Fruit Loops or Cocoa Krispies?” Cassian asked, looking at Bay over his shoulder. “You want sugar or chocolate?”

Bay wrinkled his freckled nose as he thought about it. “Fruit Loops.”

Cassian went ahead and made the pup a bowl and at it in front of him. Bay instantly started eating and Cassian just put his chin on the heel of his hand and watched him go to town on the sugariest food in the house. “Careful. You don’t want to choke.”

Bay glared at him over the bowl and slowed down. “I’m so hungry today,” he muttered, shoving another bite into his mouth. “I don’t think I’ve been this hungry in my life.”

Cassian worried at his bottom lip. Nesta wanted him to wait for her, so he’d wait. Cassian glanced at his phone. She was still at least thirty minutes out. Cassian slid his phone back in his pocket and leaned forward, pressing the back of his hand on Bay’s cheeks and forehead. A little warm, but nothing too serious, nowhere near the temperature of a heat.

His son shrugged back from his touch and looked at him beneath furrowed brows. “What are you doing?”

“I’m, uh, checking to see if you have a fever,” Cassian lied miserably. “You and the hellions were out in the snow for hours over the past few days. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t getting sick.”

Bay studied his face and slowly took a bite of his cereal as he looked him over. “Oh,” he said finally, blush rising up in his cheeks. “Sorry.”

Cassian snorted and took a drink from his coffee, watching the pup bring the bowl of milk up to his lips and drink deeply. He was certain there was more sugar in that milk than there was calcium. Bay hopped down from the stool and put his bowl in the dishwasher and disappeared back through the door.

* * *

Bay mirrored what Cassian had done, pressing his own hand to his cheeks as he walked back down to his room. He frowned. His face  _felt_ fine. He never had anyone touch his face like that, to see if he were sick. His father usually either had a thermometer or waited until it were obvious he were sick before he done something about it. It was nice, really nice.

He went into his bedroom and went to his closet, looking at the pile of clothes and blankets and pillows. Bay pulled Nate’s blanket around himself tighter and climbed into the center of the pile, yawning widely.

God he was tired. Bay curled up into the clothes and pillows, grabbing Nate’s sweatshirt and pulling it closer and Nate’s blanket around him and closed his eyes, letting sleep carry him away.

* * *

Nate pushed his chair out and stood, stretching widely. Finally,  _finally_ he had gotten those eyes the way he wanted. He looked down at his fingers and frowned. They were covered in charcoal. He shrugged and went to go to the bathroom to wash them off when he looked around his bedroom.  _Where the heck is all my stuff_? Nate thought.

His blanket, he knew Baylor had. But as for the pillows or his shirts, they were all gone too! He stalked out of his room and down the hall to the kitchen where his uncle was drinking coffee. Cassian looked up at him with arched brows. “You’re more charcoal than you are boy, Kid.”

Nate snorted and went to the sink, washing his hands and face and arms. “Where’s my stuff? Everything’s out of my room but my jeans.” Nate looked over his shoulder, at his uncle when he didn’t respond. “Uncle Cassian?”

Cassian just got up from the counter and went out through the door. Nate frowned and went after him, through the living room and down the hall to Baylor’s bedroom. Nate blinked after he went in after Cassian to his friend’s room to find Baylor in his closet, curled up in a pile of clothes and pillows and blankets, sleeping soundly. And purring.

“Oh,” Nate whispered.  _He’s an Omega._ Maybe that was why he smelled so nice.

His uncle nodded and ran his hand through his long hair, sighing deeply. “Yep. Oh.” He pulled Nate out of Bayor’s room and put his hands on his shoulders. “You need to go home, okay? The kid’s sleeping and I don’t want to wake him up.”

“But-”

“I will give you ten dollars to go home, Nathaniel.”

Nate crossed his arms. “Make it twenty-five and you have a deal.”

 “Fifteen.”

“Come  _on_ ,” Nate groaned. “I’m thirteen. I can’t get a job until  _at least_ next year. Bribery is the only source of income I can get.”

Cassian hung and shook his head. “Fine. Twenty-five and you go home.”

Nate smiled up at him. “I love doing business with you.”

* * *

Nate followed him back to the kitchen asking question after question about Omegas. Cassian answered them as vaguely as he could, not giving him anything he could use to connect them as mates. “I don’t get it,” Nate said, holding out his hand. “Why does he have my clothes? Is it an Omega thing to take people’s stuff?”

“He’s getting sick,” Cassian said carefully, holding out a handful of fives. “Bay’s immersing himself in someone else’s scent to make himself feel better.”

His nephew cocked his head, studying him with near black eyes. “Really? He’s not Nesting then?”

“Nope,” Cassian lied, sitting back down at the counter, bringing the coffee cup to his lips. He hated this, lying to the pups but it was for their own good. It would be ten times harder to keep Nate away if he knew about the heat or even the Nesting. “Just getting sick.”

He watched his nephew pull on his coat and shoes. “I don’t understand.” Nate said, grabbing an apple from the fridge. “Why  _my_ scent?” Nate took a bite from the fruit and gave him a lazy grin. “Or do I just smell that good?”

Cassian snorted and shook his head. “Your ego knows no bounds, Kiddo. Go home,” He said, effectively dodging the question. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

* * *

Nesta watched Nate trek through the snow as she drove up the drive. She shut the ignition off and locked the car as she walked up to the front door and through it. She discarded her coat and shoes and made her way to the kitchen to find her husband with the palms of his hands bracing his temples, rubbing them. “Where is he?”

Cassian turned around and pressed a kiss to her temple before guiding her back to Bay’s room.  “I think he’s been Nesting all day,” Cassian whispered. “And eating. He’s been appearing in the kitchen for food nearly every hour or so and he’s been dragging around that comforter.”

Her husband pushed open Bay’s bedroom door and took her hand, guiding her through the large space to Bay’ closet. Nesta’s heart shuddered in her chest as she looked down at her son with his face in Nate’s hoodie and his large comforter around him. He looked so tranquil, so at peace. She couldn’t help but smile at that.

Bay rolled over and faced the wall, curling deeper into a ball. She could smell both Nate and Bay’s scents mingled together in his nest, as it should be. Nesta carefully straightened and took her husband’s hand and guided him out of their son’s room.

She carefully closed the door and looked up at him. “When he wakes up, then we’ll have to tell him. He can’t be blindsided.”

Cassian nodded and pressed a kiss to temple. “Nate thinks Bay has his clothes and blankets because he’s getting sick. I told him that Bay’s using his scent to feel better. Also,” He grinned, “we’re out twenty-five bucks. I had to bribe him to leave.”

Nesta shook her head as they walked to the living room. “I think our nephew has made nearly a hundred and fifty dollars off you since the beginning of the new year.” Her husband snorted and settled into the couch with his arms thrown across the back. “Have you gotten him to read any?”

She sat in a chair across from him and watched him tip his head back and sigh deeply. “Nope. He won’t work with me. I’ve tried bribery and coercing and even went so far as threatening to ground him but he just dug his heels in and refused.”

“You think he’s embarrassed?” Nesta asked. She leaned back and thought about it. “But if that were the case, why would he work with me and not you? You’d think he would work better with you considering your own past.”

Cassian deflated and sunk against the couch. “I think it’s because I’m an Alpha. Maybe he feels threatened by it and can’t concentrate enough to learn.”

“Perhaps,” Nesta said, picking at her nails. “It might also be because you’re a  _man_. He said that his father was the one who was teaching him. If you’d call it that. Maybe he’s afraid of going through the same thing twice.” Cassian’s eyes flashed, a low growl coming from his throat. “Either way, Bay’s reading teacher is a woman and I will still help him after school so we don’t need to worry about his dyslexia.” She cut her husband a look. “Has that man caused any problems?”

Cassian sighed deeply. “David Odium is being held at County for the selling of methamphetamines. He was caught selling to an undercover police officer yesterday. And then we went to his house and-” his breath shuddered, “and we found drug paraphernalia everywhere and black garbage bags with clothes meant for a child, for Bay. There was one bed, the rooms were a mess. I’m surprised CPS hadn’t been called on him. I really am and it pisses me the fuck off.”

Nesta recalled the look of complete shock on Bay’s face when he wandered through their house, when they went to the mall and bought him a dresser. “How long? How long is he going to be in prison for?”

“DA is shooting for ten to fifteen years for drugs.” Cassian hesitated. “She wants to bring up charges of child abuse but it would require a statement and putting Bay on the stand. It could add  _years_  to the sentence. But,” Cassian sighed, “The pup is terrified of being in the same room with that man.  Do you really think he would get up in front of him and a bunch of strangers and tell everyone what his father did to him over the span of ten years?”

“We’ll deal with that after Bay’s heat,” Nesta said. “And when we do, we need to be careful. Last thing we need is Nate to sense Bay’s panic.”

* * *

A few hours later, Bay’s eyes fluttered open and a groan loosed from him as he stretched and sat up rubbing his eyes. He looked around him, at the pile of clothes and blankets and scented the space, taking in apples and lavender and cypress and cloves. It smelled so nice.

Bay got up to his feet and put on Nate’s hoodie before wrapping the ebony comforter around himself and wandered around the house before finding Nesta and Cassian in the kitchen. His stomach rumbled and Bay refrained from groaning. He was hungry.  _Again._

He tilted his nose up and scented the air and his mouth instantly watered. Spaghetti. Bay ignored the amused look Cassian gave him as he went up to the counter and picked a piece of tomato and ate it before climbing up on the stool next to Nesta. “Why are we having spaghetti again?”

Cassian exchanged glances with Nesta before leaning against the counter across from him. “You said spaghetti was your favorite, so that’s what I made.”

Bay’s brows furrowed as he studied him. “You’re buttering me up for something. Why?”

Cassian tipped his head and sighed. “Bay, you’re Nesting.”

His eyes widened and he stiffened, “No I’m not.” Panic settled in and filled his entire body. “I’m _not_ ,” he squeaked, tears pricking behind his eyes. “I’m on suppressants. Elain said I wouldn’t have a heat as long as I’m on suppressants!”

Cassian came around the counter and put his broad hands on Bay’s blanketed shoulders. “She said you  _shouldn’t._ That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t. You’ve been hungry, right? You’re taking Nate’s clothes? His blankets? You want to be around him, an Alpha?”

“So?” Bay said in a small voice, shrinking back from him. “He smells good.”

Nesta got to her feet and she leveled an intense icy look. “It’s normal, Bay. What’s happening is perfectly normal.”

Dread. So, so much dread filled him as she and Cassian told him what he would go through all by himself and he didn’t want it. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to get hot or have to seclude himself. He didn’t want to have  _children._  He was ten! Why did he have to present so early? Why, why  _why_ -

Bay’s eyes went to Cassian and they widened. “But- but you’re an Alpha.” Such deep sympathy filled Cassian’s eyes. “No,” Bay said, shaking his head wildly. “ _No_. I don’t want to do it. What if-”

“ _Bay_ ,” Cassian growled. He stiffened and Cassian’s voice softened a fraction. “You’re safe. You will  _be_ safe. I’m not going to hurt you or be anywhere near you. Okay? We bought those Scent blockers. Remember?” He tightened his grip on Bay’s shoulders. “I won’t be able to smell you, neither will anyone else.”

Bay felt tears threaten to fall. “Don’t make me do it."

Nesta - _Nesta_ \- knelt in front of him and took his hand. “If there was a way you didn’t have to do it, then we’d make it happen. But it’s going to happen. You’re going to have a heat and we’re going to help you the best we can.” She pulled Nate’s blanket further around him and said firmly, “You’re going to be okay.”

* * *

Cassian’s heart broke over and over again in his chest as Bay buried his face in Nesta’s shoulder, crying. Fear and dread flooded Bay’s scent and Cassian wished he could do something,  _anything_ , to help Bay so the pup didn’t have to have his heat so soon.

His wife’s head whipped around to face him, her eyes wide and bright. Shock was written all over her face, as if she couldn’t believe Bay would embrace her. Cassian smiled weakly as Nesta carefully put her arms around the pup and hugged him. “You’re going to be okay,” she said firmly.

“Do you promise?” Bay murmured against her skin.

“Yes,” both of them said.

Anguish sitting in his chest, Cassian went to finish making the spaghetti and make a bowl for Bay. He sat it in front of him and Bay slowly, so slowly pulled away from Nesta and looked down at the heaping bowl of pasta.

His heart sank at the bloodshot in Bay’s hazel-green eyes. The pup sniffled and wiped at his freckled cheeks as Nesta pulled apart from him reluctantly and sat on the stool next to him as Cassian sat down her plate of spaghetti.

“Is this why I haven’t started school yet?” Bay asked quietly as he took a small bite from his food. “Did you know I was going to have a heat?”

“Yes,” Nesta said candidly. “You’ve been distributing signs for a while and when you started taking Nate’s things, it was just confirmed. We wanted to wait until we were absolutely sure before we told you.”

Bay shook his head and wiped his cheek harshly as fresh tears slipped down. “This is my dad’s fault,” he whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear it. “It’s his fault I have to do this now.”

Rage and hatred sat in his chest and he swallowed down a growl at the man who did this to his son. He thought about the house he saw, the lack of scent blockers or wooden floors. It was luck, pure luck he found Bay when he did. He was positive Bay would have ended up dead or worse if he hadn’t found him when he did. The thought of what David would do with a pup in heat had him wanting to break every bone in his body. He wouldn’t put it past him to try to sell Bay in a slave trade.

They sat in comfortable silence as they ate. He and Nesta both kept glancing at Bay and when the boy finished eating, he got down from the stool and rinsed and put his bowl in the dishwasher before disappearing through the kitchen door with Nate’s blanket wrapped around himself.

 “He’s right,” Nesta said after a while. “This is that man’s fault. Bay shouldn’t have to deal with any of this until he’s fourteen. I hope he rots in prison.”

* * *

Nate leaned against the wall with his arms and ankles crossed as he watched Blake tip his head back and groan deeply. “Mom.  _Please_.”

Their mother just took a long sip from her wine glass, her dark eyes glittering. “Keep asking and the answer is going to remain the same. You’re going to do the dance class. Nate’s doing it and he’s not complaining.”

“That’s because the brat’s a little wierdo,” Blake said flatly, folding his arms over his chest ignoring the glare Nate was giving him. “I’m a football player, not a ballet dancer. For fucks sake,” he looked at Adrien. “Ade, back me up.”

Adrien looked up from his phone and slid a cool look at Blake and then their mother. “The idiot is right, Mom. We’re athletes, not dancers. When am I ever going to need to know how to waltz?”

Their mother leaned back in her chair and clicked her red nails on the table. “Okay, first of all, dancing helps athletes with their footwork. It’ll help you perform better. And second of all,” she smiled, “You’ll need to know how to dance when you get married and third of all, girls dig dancers.” Interest lit both his brothers’ eyes. Nate barely suppressed an eyeroll. “How else do you think your father won me over?”

Blake held up his hands, “Eh, eh, eh. Don’t need to know that.” He slumped his shoulders and sighed painfully. “Fine,” He surrendered and then pointed at her. “But I’m drawing the line at tights.” Adrien held up a hand in agreement.

“Hey Mom?” Nate asked, pushing off the wall and coming up to the table.

“Yes Pumpkin?”

He sighed painfully at the nickname. Why couldn’t he have a mother who just used their child’s name instead of a fruit. Or was it a vegetable? “Can Baylor do it too?”

She smiled widely. “Of course. I’d be happy to teach him.”

* * *

Bay sniffled as he made his way back to his room. It didn’t hurt as much to breathe anymore. The bruises under his shirt where starting to go away. They had turned yellow and green. Hopefully they’d be gone before he had to go to school. But there was the issue of the scar, the one covered up by bruises, that Nesta and Cassian didn’t know about. He was certain Elain did, she saw it when she took his vitals and he wondered if she would tell Cassian and Nesta about it. He hoped not.

It was stupid to ask Cassian and Nesta to promise him. It sounded like something a five-year-old would ask them and yet he had needed it. He needed to hear that everything would be okay, even if he wasn’t sure he believed it or not. He kept expecting his father to show up and take him away.

He tightened the blanket around himself, burying his face in the soft fabric as he went up to his dresser and pulled out a pair of green pajama bottoms and a black shirt and put them and Nate’s hoodie on. He ran his fingers on the material, taking pleasure in the softness of the cotton.

His eyes went involuntarily to his closet, at the pile of soft material filled with Nate’s and his own scents. Bay couldn’t help but wonder why he was nesting with Nate’s scent. It wasn’t like he was his mate. He’d know. Right?

Bay shook his head and pushed that thought away as he wrapped himself back up in the blanket and grabbed one of the sketchbooks and a set of art pencils from his desk.  _His_ desk. He had a  _desk_. A week ago he didn’t have a bed and now he has his own room filled with things he didn’t think he’d ever actually have.

A painful sigh loosed from Bay as he stalked over to his closet and settled deep in his nest with his sketchbook and pencils and drew and drew and drew until his eyes grew heavy and he couldn’t keep them open any longer.

He put the sketchbook on the floor and curled deeply into his Nest, inhaling his and Nate’s combined scents as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are welcome and appreciated <3


	9. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mor’s eyes lifted to his in desperation. What do we do?
> 
> Cassian shook his head. I don’t know.
> 
> Azriel came forward and looked down at Nate calmly. He could smell Az trying to use pheromones to try and relax his son. “You can’t stay here, Nathaniel. You’ll hurt Bay.”
> 
> “No I won’t,” Nate said, starting to calm down. “He’s my friend. I won’t hurt him. Why would you think I would hurt him?” Nate stiffened in his arms and Cassian tightened his grip at the warning look in Az’s eyes. “He’s having a heat,” Nate breathed. “Baylor’s having a heat, that’s why you won’t let me near him.”

Bay felt it before he even opened his eyes. His skin burned and his hair stuck to his forehead, slick with sweat, his face flush and hot, hot,  _hot_. He tried rolling over, deeper into his nest. A pathetic whine loosed from his lips from trying to make his clothes not hurt so much.

They hurt, his body was so sensitive to these fabrics. He was on fire and these clothes felt like a cheese grater against his skin. The only thing he could do was pull weakly at his shirt until it was off and then curl into a ball, his arms wrapping around himself.

His Omega was telling him he needed something. He needed some _one_. An Alpha. But he couldn’t get to one and he didn’t  _want_ to. He hurt too much and the slick he was producing wasn’t helping matters at all. He felt wet and scorching all at once and he was certain he was dying.

Tears of frustration pricked behind his eyes as he pulled Nate’s pillow to his face, nearly moaning at the cool cotton against his burning flesh and the scent.  _God._ It smelled more intense, as if he were in a field of lavender and a grove of green apple trees. He buried his face deeper, desperately.

Whimpers broke from his throat and he couldn’t stop them as he tried and failed to cool down. Bay wanted. He wanted so much and he didn’t know  _what_  he wanted. All he knew was he hurt and he was so hot and so wet and so uncomfortable.

Everything was a haze. His vision blurred around the edges. He still had enough coherency but it was slipping rapidly and soon he’s be begging. Bay’s heart shuddered in his chest as he rolled and rolled, trying to get comfortable to go back asleep. But it just wasn’t working.

Bay’s stomached cramped up and he curled into a tight ball trying his hardest to get the pain to subside. Tears streamed down his face and he nearly sobbed at the pain coiling around his spine. It hurt. It hurt so much and he couldn’t make it stop.

* * *

Cassian’s eyes snapped open, jerking himself awake from a dream of the battlefield. His heart pounded in his chest as he rolled over, instantly sitting up with a trembling hand through his long-tousled hair. He had perfected the art of not waking his wife up when he was slammed with those dreams, those memories that still branded the undersides of his eyes.

Red numbers burned his eyes, telling him it was some ungodly hour that no sane man should be awake at. Years out of the service and he still couldn’t shake the instinct to be awake before sunrise. Heart slowing to an even beat, Cassian looked over his shoulder at his wife sleeping like the dead.

Golden-brown waves cascaded down Nesta’s back, her unnervingly perfect face smoothed out by sleep. Nesta was the picture of health despite having spent years combating ovarian cancer. Cassian refrained from leaning over and kissing her. She had been up so late with Mor, talking about the boys and what to do. Strangers turned enemies turned friends. That’s what the two females were.

Quiet as possible, Cassian got up from their bed and pulled sweatpants on and went to their adjoined bathroom where he shut the door, turned the lights on and braced the countertops, looking in the mirror at his bloodshot hazel-gold eyes.

The bright lights seared his vision but it was nothing to the pain of remembering that bomb and his men dying. Their deaths happened too fast for there to be screams but there were the unlucky few, the unlucky few who had survived that blast with limbs blown off them and  _their_ screams Cassian heard. The sounds of pure unbridled pain and horror and the crushing guilt he survived the bomb without so much as a scratch to his body.

Sounds of water running filled Cassian’s ears as he splashed his face with the ice-cold water, shocking himself back to his wife and son and the now.  He took a breath and then another one and then another until his heart evened out and he was one hundred percent back to the present.

He switched off the lights and left the bathroom and headed down to the kitchen. But first, Cassian walked past Bay’s room, listening at the door to make sure he was still asleep in his nest. But his spine locked in place when he heard sobs coming from the ten-year-old omega.

Immediately turning around, Cassian flew back up the stairs to his and his wife’s bedroom to get her awake. It didn’t take much for her icy eyes to snap open to his and without so much as a word, the woman had her robe on and was going down the stairs to Bay’s room.

* * *

Whimpers filled Nesta’s ear as she pressed to the door to in fact see if Bay had begun his first heat.  Her heart tightened at the sound, at the mewling and obvious discomfort coming from her son.

She forced herself to pull away from the door and she forced herself to walk to the kitchen and forced herself to keep busy. Because if she didn’t, if she gave herself that inch she would turn herself around and try to help him. And that, that was not an option. Especially during a heat cycle. She’d have to wait. She’d have to wait until the first wave was over and she could get him to eat.

Nesta went about making the coffee and unloading the dishwasher. She barely registered her husband coming in behind her and sitting at the counter with the newspaper. She was just so immersed with keeping herself distracted that she didn’t hear the words coming out of his mouth until he had said her name for the third time, tinged with impatience.

She turned around sharply to glare at her husband. “ _What_.”

Cassian just leveled a look at her, his hazel-gold eyes seeing everything as they usually did. “He’ll be okay.  Bay will be okay and in a few days he won’t have to go through this again until he’s thirteen.”

“I know that,” she snapped.

 Her husband merely arched a brow and Nesta went about grabbing the work she brought home for her job. She tried working on the spring line for the upcoming exhibition but her mind kept going to Bay.

She was faintly aware of her husband getting himself and her coffee and setting her cup in front of her. Nesta lifted her eyes to his as he sat across from her and took a long drink. His eyes were intense, the hazel-gold nearly glowing and swallowing her whole. Alpha mentality. “ _Relax_ ,” he growled softly. “Your scent is flooded with worry.” He pushed her mug closer to her, the smell of coffee filling her nose. “Take a drink, it’ll help.”

Nesta glared at him but he held her gaze, refusing to bow under her glacial eyes. She looked and looked at him before sighing though her nose and bringing the coffee mug to her lips and taking a drink. The bitter liquid filled her mouth and Cassian tipped the mug deeper until she took a bigger drink.

When she finally put the mug on the counter, empty, she lifted her eyes to his, nearly rolling them at the deep satisfaction in her mate’s gaze. “Happy?” she bit out.

He gave her a lazy grin, bringing his mug to his lips. “Ecstatic.”

She shook her head delved into her work the best she could, blatantly ignoring her husband. The sounds of his chuckle and his newspaper opening filled her ears. She barely got any of her work done over the span of three hours as she waited for the first cycle of Bay’s heat to get over.

Getting up, Nesta went about taking a shower with scent canceling soap and putting on a pair sweats. Twisting her hair up into a bun, Nesta let loose a calming breath and shut the lights out before heading back to the kitchen to get some protein bars and a few bottles of water to take to Bay. But before she headed to his room, she cut her husband a look. “Stay here. I’m going to make him eat something for breakfast.”

Cassian raised his brows and held up his coffee mug in a silent salute and turned the page in his newspaper. “Remember what Elain said and approach slowly.”

She rolled her eyes and went through the living room to and stopped short in front of Bay’s room, pressing an ear to the door. Her heart slowed in her chest at the lack of whimpering coming from the other side of the door.

Nesta carefully opened the door and slid inside, instantly closing it quietly. His scent flooded her nose. It was so, so sweet, so potent and so  _thick_  as it coated every inch of the room. Her mouth went dry but she froze midstep as she looked across the room at Bay, looking at the pup curled in his nest, shoulders tense and back slick with sweat as he breathed raggedly.

Hate boiled in her veins as her eyes landed on the thick two-inch-wide stark scar going across his back. Elain had mentioned a scar but she had no idea. No  _idea_  it was this bad.

Bay turned over and looked up at her with blown out tired eyes. She carefully came up to him slowly, so very slowly as to not startle him. Bay just looked at her as she knelt and whispered, “You need to eat.”

Her son shook his head so painfully slowly and mumbled, “I don’t want to.”

 She knelt closer and Bay’s nostrils flared, scenting her. She was instantly glad she took a shower and that her scent was masked when Bay just looked up at her silently.

Before Nesta could stop herself, she pressed her hand to his cheek to check his temperature. It was so hot and Bay instantly pushed into the touch with closed eyes, burying his burning face in her cool hand.

Nesta pulled back and a small whine loosed from Bay at the loss of skin on skin contact. Her heart fractured and she unwrapped the protein bar. “Here, just half and then some water,” she said firmly. “You need your energy, Bay.”

 Bay’s eyes opened and he looked up at her. His flushed freckled face looked so worn and so tired and her heart sunk. “I’m not hungry.”

Leveling a firm look with him, Nesta grabbed the bottle of ice water and said, “Then drink. You have to keep yourself hydrated during a heat. If you don’t it will make it hurt worse.”

Fear and apprehension rested behind his eyes and he slowly sat up and looked down at the bottle in her hand. She took the top off and handed it to him. She was fairly certain he wouldn’t take kindly to being fed like an invalid.

 He scented the bottle once before taking a small sip from it. But at the stern look on her face, Bay took a larger one until three-fourths of the bottle was empty. “Happy?” he asked flatly, handing her the near empty bottle.

Despite herself, Nesta felt her lips start to twitch in a small smile. “How are you feeling?”

Bay pulled his damp hair out of his eyes and glared at her. “I’m hot, I’m tired and I’m  _wet_. How do you  _think_  I feel?”

Nesta winced internally and got up to her feet and went to the adjoined bathroom to run water for a quick bath for Bay. She heard shuffling and soon enough, Bay was leaning against the doorframe with his thin arms folded over his bare freckled chest. She turned the water off and looked at him pointedly. “Here, you can take a bath. It’ll help.”

Bay’s hazel-green eyes bored into hers, searching and unrelenting. “How would you know?” he asked coolly, shifting uncomfortably in his loose shorts. “Last I checked, Betas didn’t have heats.”

“They don’t,” Nesta replied in the same calm tone. More color rose up in Bay’s already flushed cheeks. “But the internet is a fantastic way to learn about such things.” She stood from the ledge of the tub and grabbed a towel and washcloth. “Take a bath and you’ll feel better. I’ll get some clothes for you and leave them on your bed. You have about thirty minutes or so before your next cycle starts.”

She tried walking past him only for Bay to grab her arm and look up at her. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, swallowing visibly. “I know you’re just trying to help. Thank you.”

Nodding tersely, Nesta went past him and went to Bay’s dresser. As she pulled out a pair of very loose cotton shorts, the sound of Bay getting into the water filled her ears. She saw how uncomfortable he was, how he kept shifting around. Either way, Nesta wasn’t at all surprised with the attitude from Bay. Cassian  _had_ said he was a bit mouthy. In all honesty, it just made Nesta think that Bay belonged in their family. With a mouth like that, he’d be able to give as good as he got. Especially where Ash was concerned.

After leaving the clothing on the bed for Bay, Nesta went back to the kitchen to see her husband talking on his cellphone, his face tight. “Snow day?” He sighed. “Hell of a day for the school to close. Bay’s heat started a few hours ago.”

His eyes lifted to hers in silent question as she sat across from him. Nesta nodded and said, “I got him to drink some and left a few protein bars and bottles of water on his bed next to a clean change of clothes. He wouldn’t eat but I got him to drink some.”

Cassian nodded and said into the phone, “Try to keep the kid occupied. And don’t-” he winced. “I’m well aware you’ve been a parent longer than me, Morrigan. I just need everything to go smoothly and not have to worry about a thirteen-year-old alpha trying to get to his mate.” Cassian’s head fell back and he said, “Alright, talk to you later.”

Hanging up, Cassian sat his phone on the table and thrusted his hands through his hair, a deep groan coming out of him. “She’s going to try to get Nate to go to go to Rhys’s for the weekend.”

Nesta leaned back on the stool. “Think it’ll work?”

Her husband’s lips curled to the side in a half-wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Not a chance. He’s going to know they’re trying to get him to leave and it won’t take long for him to figure out why.”

Nesta sighed deeply. “I saw it,” she whispered, blinking back the tears from her eyes. “I saw his back.” A growl came from her husband and she flicked her eyes up to his. “It goes from across his back from shoulder to flank and is two inches wide.”

“A belt,” he said roughly, his fingers curling into fists. “It was a belt, wasn’t it?”

 She nodded. “I think so, yes.”

Cassian’s face turned to ice, pure solid unbreakable ice. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that man never steps foot outside of that prison again.”

“No wonder,” Cassian said roughly, “No wonder Bay was so petrified of being taken to the police station. He was afraid his father would be contacted. With the arrest record Bay has, I’m sure David was contacted before to pick him up and by getting the attention of the police, he punished Bay for it.”

* * *

Burying his face into Nate’s pillow, Bay groaned deeply at the scent of apples and lavender filling his senses. His body started to loosen the more of Nate’s scent he took in, though it did little to alleviate the discomfort in his body.

 Tears pricked at the back of his eyes as he twisted around in his nest, trying to get more comfortable in his shorts. The scent around him did nothing for the dampness he felt everywhere. His senses were on overdrive and his body was so hot and he felt so  _empty_. But he always felt empty, so that wasn’t new.

He remembered Nesta’s hand on his face. He remembered the coolness of her hand and how it felt so nice against his scorching skin. That was what he needed. He needed that contact but he couldn’t  _get it_.

* * *

An hour later, Nate woke up and rolled over and faced the clock, reading the red numbers. Palming his eyes, Nate groaned deeply. It was eleven in the morning and yet he was still so freaking tired despite being in bed at ten the night before. He couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Thank Jesus it’s a snow day.

He got up and changed into a pair of dark jeans and a paint splattered tee-shirt. Bracing the dresser, Nate looked in the mirror at his ratty long black hair and sighed. It was such a  _pain_  getting the tangles and knots out.

 Twenty minutes with a hairbrush and wishful thinking later, Nate twisted his hair up into a bun and ran down the stairs to the kitchen to make himself and Baylor lunch. The omega needed to eat more than that stupid  _cereal_. If he kept it up, he’d turn into a giant Fruit Loop.

Nate hummed as he bit into an apple as he made peanut butter and banana sandwiches for the both of them. His mom wouldn’t let him use the stove without supervision so he’d have to make something simple.

“What are you doing, Pumpkin?”        

Nate hung his head and sighed deeply at the nickname and turned to his mother. He couldn’t place the tight and worried expression on her face. His alpha was on alert in seconds, scenting the air, trying to figure out what was wrong. “I’m making me and Baylor lunch,” he said carefully. “Do you want a sandwich too?”

His mother came in and sat down at the counter. But then his father and  _Adrien_ came in too and sat beside her. His alpha perked up, telling him something was off. Adrien was paying attention to them, Adrien didn’t get involved in things unless something was wrong.

“Bay’s sick, Nate,” His father said, calmly. “You can’t see him today.”

Adrien looked him over, his face cool and carefully blank. Though he didn’t miss the intensity of his hazel-gold eyes, their father’s eyes. And then Blake came in and Nate stiffened at the concentration of his dark eyes, their mother’s eyes,  _his_  eyes. They were expecting a fight. But  _why._

“Oh,” he said cautiously. “Well, I’ll keep him company. I won’t get sick. I’ve been around him all week.”

His mother shook her head. “No. We’re going to see Feyre and Rhys today. You can show your aunt your new drawings. How about that?”

“No,” Nate said stubbornly. “If Baylor’s sick I want to help take care of him. He’s my friend.”

“Bay’s fine,” Blake said calmly. “Nesta and Cassian are taking real good care of him. Aunt Feyre really wants to see you.”

Nate’s eyes narrowed. His brother was talking as if he were trying to calm some wild beast. Nate took a step forward and Adrien and their father were on their feet. “I said  _no_ ,” he snapped. “You’re trying to keep me away from him,” he accused, glaring at the four of them.

When they didn’t deny his allegation, Nate ran. He was at the door when arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back into the house. Nate struggled against his brother, trying to free himself as Blake shut the front door. “ _Let me go_ ,” Nate snarled.

Nate slammed his elbow in Adrien’s stomach and his brother coughed but held tight. “ _You can’t see Bay_ ,” Adrien grunted.

“Yes I  _can_ ,” he growled, twisting in his brother’s arms. “He’s  _mine_.”

His brothers exchanged glances and Nate opened his mouth and crunched down on Adrien’s arm as hard as he could. His brother roared as blood filled his mouth. Nate spat it out and Adrien let go of him out of reflex. Nate pushed Blake out of his way and ran outside, grateful for the fact he had already put on his shoes.

The cold instantly seeped into his skin as he trudged through the snow to his uncle’s house. He went to open the door, only to find it locked. He pounded on the wood with the palm on his hand, as hard and as loud as he possibly could. “ _Let me in!_ ”

* * *

Cassian’s head snapped up at the sound cracking through his house. He exchanged looks with his wife before standing. “I’m guessing the plan to get him to leave backfired.”

Nesta nodded and Cassian stormed through the house and cracked the door open and looked down at his nephew. His eyes widened at the blood dripping past his lips and onto his chin, his dark brown eyes purely black, his black hair falling out of a bun. “Nate,  _go home_.”

Nate snarled and pushed the door hard enough he broke the chain lock and threw the door open. Cassian caught him around the waist before he made it four steps in the house. His nephew twisted in his arms and Cassian held tight. “You can’t be here, Nate!”

 Nate growled and kicked at him. “I don’t care if he’s sick! I’m not leaving him!”

Nesta was instantly in front of them, her icy eyes boring into Nate’s. “Nathaniel, knock it off right this minute. You don’t calm down and you won’t get to see Bay for a  _month_ , understand me?”

Nate stopped fighting in his arms but he bared his teeth at her, his chest rising and falling heavily. He scented tears falling onto his nephew’s cheeks. Cassian didn’t dare try to let him go. “I’m not leaving,” Nate said raggedly. “You can’t make me leave. I’ll tear your door off its hinges before I stay away from him.”

 Any shred of doubt, of uncertainty, was gone at the promise from his thirteen-year-old nephew. He had zero doubt Nate would destroy everything if it meant getting to Bay. He was the same way when it came to Nesta.

“Nate, Pumpkin, you  _need_  to come home.”

 Cassian looked over his shoulder to see Mor and Azriel standing there, their faces flushed red from the cold. It was below zero outside and Nate ran out without a coat on. A low, vicious snarl tore from his nephew and Cassian tightened his grip on him.

Mor came around and she clasped Nate’s face, wiping some of the blood from his chin. “You can see him in a few days, honey. Okay? He’ll still be here, you just need to let him get better.”

Nate pulled his head out of her grip, slamming it backwards against his chest. Cassian was positive he’s have an ugly bruise left from the small alpha. “ _No_.”

He’d say lock the kid in his room but he was certain Nate would break the glass and climb out, risking hurting himself if it meant getting to Bay. There were plenty of cases of alphas breaking into houses and apartments if it meant getting to an omega in heat.

 Mor’s eyes lifted to his in desperation.  _What do we do_?

Cassian shook his head.  _I don’t know_.

Azriel came forward and looked down at Nate calmly. He could smell Az trying to use pheromones to try and relax his son. “You can’t stay here, Nathaniel. You’ll hurt Bay.”

“No I won’t,” Nate said, starting to calm down. “He’s my friend. I won’t hurt him. Why would you think I would hurt him?” Nate stiffened in his arms and Cassian tightened his grip at the warning look in Az’s eyes. “He’s having a heat,” Nate breathed. “Baylor’s having a heat, that’s why you won’t let me near him.”

Nate started struggling again in his arms despite the flood of pheromones coming off Azriel. “ _Please_ ,” Nate sobbed, shaking his head wildly. “I’ll sit outside his room. I won’t go in. I promise. Just let me sit out _side-_ ”

Azriel’s eyes lifted to his and he rose his brows in silent questioning. Cassian hesitated. They wouldn’t be able to hold Nate off forever, even with the use of pheromones. The pup was deceptively strong. He looked to Nesta with silent pleading.

Nesta came up and looked down at Nate with eyes made of blue-grey ice. “If we do this,” she said calmly, her voice coated with glacial warning. “If we let you stay outside his room, you will not go in at all. At  _all_.” Nate nodded frantically. “And when I go in to make him eat, you will stay in the kitchen with Cassian holding you down until I get back. If you so much as  _try_ to go in, you will be banned from seeing Bay until the grass is green. Are we understood, Nathaniel?”

“Yes,” Nate breathed. “ _Yes._ ”

Nesta lifted her eyes to him and nodded once. As soon as he let go of Nate, the pup bolted through the kitchen and down to Bay’s room. Nesta grabbed a hand towel and went after him.

Cassian winced at the pain in his chest and looked between his neighbors. “So much for going to Rhys’s, huh?” Mor winced. “Whose blood was that on Nate’s face?” Cassian demanded.

“Adrien’s,” Azriel said, sitting at the counter. “He managed to grab Nate before he got out the door but Nate bit him. Blake took him to the emergency room. He needs stitches.”

* * *

Adrien glowered at the spot in front of him, holding his arm over his head while he waited for the doctor to some in. His vision blurred around the corners from the loss of blood. He was certain his annoying little brother’s teeth went down nearly to the bone.

Blake roamed around the emergency room, looking between all the medical equipment with a bemused expression on his golden face. “You think they’ll notice if I take a pair of gloves?”

He rolled his eyes, willing his head to stop pounding. “Fuck if I know. Either sit your ass down or go hit on a nurse. Your roaming is causing me a headache.”

His brother huffed and plucked a pair of gloves from the dispenser and plopped down in the chair across from him. Lifting his hips, Blake shoved the gloves into his pocket as soon as the doctor came in.

  “What can I-”

The woman’s voice cut off and Adrien looked over his shoulder to see his aunt, Elain, looking between him and Blake with wide eyes for half a second before regathering her composure. “What happened?” she asked calmly, gathering gauze and things to clean his wound.

 “Nate bit me.” Adrien said flatly, holding out his arm for Elain to clean his wound.

She carefully peeled the blood-drenched towels from his forearm and inhaled sharply at the blood coating his arm and the teeth marks sinking into his golden skin. “Why did he bite you? Did you get into his things again?” she asked while cleaning the wound.

Hissing at the burn from the antiseptic, Adrien shook his head. He immediately regretted it as it started pounding. “He went after Bay and I tried holding him back. He bit me so I would let him go.” Blake snorted and Adrien shot him a glare. “Shut  _up_ , Sunshine.”

Elain nodded and went about stitching him up. “Keep water away from the site for the next forty-eight hours and make sure to keep it  _clean_.”                          

As Elain stood and cleaned up the mess of blood and equipment, Adrien looked down at his arm and studied the stitches as she wrapped gauze around his arm. “Will I still be able to play?” He asked. “We’re in the middle of the season.”

His aunt turned looked up at him with warm brown eyes. “Yes. None of your nerves or arteries were severed so you’ll be fine. You can still be goalie. Just make sure you don’t strain yourself too much. I don’t want you popping a stitch.”

He tipped his head back and let out a deep breath. “Thank  _God_. Now I don’t have to commit fratricide. I’m too young to be in prison.”

Elain laughed softly. “I’m going to put you on G-CSF, it’s used to help your body produce more blood cells. You’ll also need to take in a lot of fluids. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“Do I really need to be put on medication?”

‘It’s either that or a blood transfusion.”

Blood drained from Adrien’s face. “No. I’ll stick with the meds.” Blake snorted and Adrien refrained from punching his brother.

 “I thought so,” Elain smiled. “Besides, it’s only for a few days.” She pulled her bloody latex gloves off and threw them and the bloody towels in the hazardous wastes container.

 Adrien hopped off the exam table and grimaced down at the stitches in his forearm, at the black thread in his golden skin. He was going to strangle his little brother. This was why he didn’t get involved.

Sighing deeply, Adrien went to follow Blake out of the emergency room only for his aunt to say, “Blake I think you have something that doesn’t belong to you.”

His brother halted misstep and dropped his head, his golden hair falling around his face. He sighed painfully and pulled the pair of latex gloves out of his pocket and handed them to her. “ _Here_.”

Their aunt smiled at them and took the gloves from his idiot of a brother and placed something in his hand to which Blake rose brows. Adrien was almost certain his brother was blushing. “Aunt Elain. Trust me, I don’t need condoms. I have plenty and I’d much rather not have my  _aunt_ give these to me.”

“And here I thought you’d taken a timeshare out of the Trojan company with how often you needed them,” Adrien quipped. He ignored the death glare coming from his brother.

“You’re just jealous,” Blake shot back.

Adrien lifted a brow. “Not all of us require copious amounts of sex to validate ourselves. Some of us actually enjoy the opposite sex without having to get into their pants.”

Blake rolled his eyes.

Elain hid a smile and said, “Just take them. There’s no such thing as plenty when it comes to safety.”

She put some in his hand and Adrien just slipped them in his pocket. Blake shot him an incredulous look and Adrien shrugged. “What. Saves me a trip to the store.” Blake snorted and Adrien kissed his aunt’s temple before following his brother out to his car.

* * *

Pressing his ear to the door, Nate’s heart shuddered in his chest as he heard the whimpers coming from Baylor. His alpha was telling him he needed to be in there with him, with his friend. Nate pulled on his self-control with an ironclad grip. “Baylor,” Nate said through the door. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not leaving.”

Baylor’s whimpers stopped. “ _Nate_?”

He slid down in front of the door, bringing his legs up to his chest, blinking back tears at the smallness of his friend’s voice. “Yeah. It’s me. It’s Nate.”

_“Will you come in? Please?_ ”

Tears slid down his cheeks. His Alpha wanted in that room, wanted him to  _bite_ Baylor, to  _claim_ him as his own. Nate didn’t move. He didn’t let himself move. “I can’t,” Nate said, his voice breaking. “I have to stay out here. Okay?”

The whimpers returned and Nate tipped his head back and closed his eyes as fresh tears rolled down his face. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to help him short of going in that room but that wasn’t an option, even with his alpha near begging him to do it.

His eye snapped open at the sudden touch to his arm. His aunt knelt in front of him, her icy eyes looking him over with brutal efficiency. Nesta silently brought up a warm, wet rag to clean his face. He had forgotten he had bitten his brother. His brother was going to kill him for it but he didn’t care. He tried to keep him away from Baylor. The jerk got what was coming to him.

His aunt lowered the rag. “Talk to him,” she said quietly but not weakly. “Keep him distracted. I’ll come back and check on you periodically.” He didn’t miss the warning coating her words. “And in an hour, I need to get him to eat. You’ll have to leave when I do.”

He nodded and she got up to her feet and walked back through the hallway, probably to the kitchen where everyone was. Nate laid down on the smooth wooden floor, curling himself into a ball as he talked to his friend.

He didn’t know what to talk to him about. People didn’t tend to  _talk_ during a heat to begin with. So he started talking to him about art. He told him of his favorite renaissance artists. Of one day going to the Louvre in France.

Baylor rarely responded to him and when he did, almost every time, it was to ask if he would come in. He’d say, ‘ _It hurts, Nate_.’ And it had him scrambling for pieces of self-control.

 As time and Nate’s outlandish stories went on, Baylor got more and more responsive. He even once managed to coax a laugh from the omega, albeit it was a painful laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.  It was a win. He’d consider it a win.

Feeling footsteps against his cheek, Nate sat up to see his aunt and uncle walking down the hall. His aunt carried water and food for Baylor and his uncle had eyes for him. He felt tears stinging behind his eyes as he looked at Baylor’s bedroom door.  _I don’t want to go_.

* * *

A snarl and scuffing sounded from the opposite side of his bedroom door. Bay slowly rolled over and listened as it got quieter and quieter. He’d get up and see what it was but he was so tired. His squeezed his eyes shut and blinked them open, trying to get some of the sleepiness out of his eyes.

 He pulled his damp hair out of his eyes as the door opened, revealing Nesta coming into the room. His nostrils flared, scenting the beta as she slowly, so very came up to him. Relief flooded through him.

Disappointment sat in his chest as it was Nesta that came into his room and not Nate. Though there was mortification sitting right next to it, at the thought he had wanted Nate in his room with him during a heat, that he had  _asked him_. God only knew what would happen if Nate had listened to him.

He pushed that thought away as Nesta slowly came up to him and knelt, looking him over. They were blown out, her pupils encompassing almost all the glacial steel of her blue-grey eyes.

Nesta twisted open one of the bottles of water and offered it to him. “Here,” she 

 Despite his omega wanting to cower in submission at the order from the Beta, Bay looked at the bottle, at the condensation running down its length. His mouth was so, so dry but his stomach was in knots. “I don’t want to,” he scratched out.

 Nesta hummed disapproval. “ _Drink_.”

With deep reluctance, Bay reached for the bottle of water and scented it before drinking it. The liquid ran down his throat and he nearly moaned from the gratification of ice against his burning skin. He drunk it until it was all gone, until the last drop was down his throat.

It took everything to not whine at the loss of it but then Nesta handed him another bottle after twisting off the cap. His omega nearly purred at the approval on her face. But then she held out crackers and Bay didn’t want to eat it. “Eat,” she said. “You haven’t eaten all day.”

A whine loosed from him before he could stop it. “I don’t want to.”

He was starting to sound like a broken record but he couldn’t help the tremulousness of his stomach. He was afraid he’d end up throwing his guts up and he’d be too far from the bathroom to make it to the toilet in time.

Nesta’s glacial eyes looked him over and got to her feet. Bay just closed his eyes, thinking that the beta was going to leave him in peace. But then something dropped in front of his gaze and he opened his eyes to see a pail in front of him. She must have concluded as to why he didn’t want to eat. “Here,” she said. “Now  _eat_.”

Bay glared at the crackers and reluctantly took a bite. It went down and Bay’s stomach tightened as he made himself take another bite and then another. His hand flew over his mouth and he closed his eyes, trying to center himself as a wave of nausea rose from the depths of his stomach.

 Bay instantly reached over and threw up the contents of his stomach in the pail, which was mostly water, crackers and bile to begin with. The taste only made him heave some more and it had sweat sliding down his back and slick coating his thighs.

 When he was done, he braced the floor with his hands, willing air into his lungs and the tears to not fall onto his face. Two more days of this. Two more. At least. Never in all his life had Bay hated his father more than during this minute. “Happy?” Bay croaked, wiping his mouth with the back of his trembling hand. “Didn’t do much good, now did it? I still have an empty stomach and now I wasted energy I needed for my heat.”

Nesta rose a brow and Bay shrunk inward, training his eyes to the floor in submission. He waited for the backhanding, for the split lip or cheek, for the bruise that would last days. But when it didn’t come, Bay dared to look up at the Beta.

Her glacial eyes were world-ending and Bay wasn’t sure he was breathing. Nesta took his chin into her hand and Bay forced himself to not close his eyes and nuzzle into the coolness of it. “I will never _ever_  hit you. The sooner you realize that the sooner you’ll feel safe in this house. Understand?”

All Bay could do was nod, even though he wasn’t sure he believed her or not. She looked at him intensely for a heartbeat before nodding and letting him go. A whine loosed from him before he could stop it.

Nesta got up and went to the washroom with the pail. Bay closed his eyes and settled down into his nest, pulling Nate’s pillow to his chest and burying his face in it. It helped, a little, it would help so, so much more if Nate was in the room with him.

His face inflamed at the thought of his friend in the room when he had a heat. He was outside and that helped although he couldn’t remember much they talked about. He might have been talking about Ninja Turtles?

He pushed that thought away and got up on his shaky legs as he heard the toilet flush and the faucets run.

* * *

Four days later, Nate had developed a routine. He had spent every possible minute outside Baylor’s door. Except on day four, he was forced to go to school and he had managed to get himself in trouble in every class. Even art class where he broke art pencils out of frustration.

This day, Nate was forced to go to detention where he had to force himself to obey or else he’d get punished again. And this time, he’d have to stay away from Baylor.

The second he showed up at home, Nate threw his backpack on his uncle’s table and stalked through the house to Baylor’s room where the door was wide open. He halted midstep and then barreled into the room to find it completely clean and Baylor nowhere to be seen.

 Heart picking up in his chest, Nate turned on his heal and stalked down to his own bedroom to see his friend curled up in his bed with his arms around one of his pillows. He couldn’t help but break out into a grin as he climbed up on the bed next to him.

Baylor’s eyes snapped open and he looked up at him with sleepy hazel-green eyes. Nate just smiled at him. “Hi.”

His friend blinked and blinked at him before faintly, so faintly, smiling up at him. Baylor let go of his pillow and curled into him instead. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he pulled his arms around his friend and closed his eyes, settling into the bed.

* * *

Hours later, the smell of food pulled Bay from sleep. He opened his eyes to see the hollow of Nate’s golden-brown throat, his lips a breadth away from his scent gland. Heat surged in his cheeks and ears from the closeness and Bay carefully pulled himself away from the alpha.

Though it was no good when as soon as he pulled away Nate’s black eyes opened instantly. His friend sat up, his dark hair falling around him in an ebony wave as he looked him over. “You okay?”

Bay nodded. “Yeah. Just hungry.”

Nate nodded and as Bay went to get up from the bed, Nate just took his wrist, stopping him from getting up. “No. Stay. I’ll bring you some food.”

Bay frowned and yanked his arm out of Nate’s grip. “I’m more than capable of getting my own food, Nathaniel. You don’t need to baby me.”

Nate stared him down, his eyes black and on him, sweeping him into oblivion. Bay’s omega wanted to cow beneath the challenge Nate was pressing him with. “Stay. In. the bed.”

Bay stared at him and he relented as Nate’s pheromones slid around him, coaxing him into doing what the alpha wanted. “Fine,” Bay said, settling into the bedding. I’ll stay in the bed but I better not be eating by myself.”

Nate beamed. “You’re not. Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next part! Comments and Kudos are welcome and appreciated XO


	10. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate was too dosed up to register any of the words Amren was saying. Azriel nodded lightly and took Nate’s chin and tilted it to the side, looking at the dark bruise, where no doubt a needle went in, on the side of his neck. “Dad?”
> 
> Nate’s voice came out sluggish and Azriel’s heart sank. Poor pup. He guided Nate’s arms around his neck and picked him up. It had been years since he held Nate in such a way. Seven years in fact.
> 
> Nate just rested his cheek on Azriel’s shoulder as he tightened his grip on him and braced a hand against his back, rubbing it, as he faced Amren. “I’m sorry, Amren. This won’t happen again. The past few weeks have been stressful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is mentions of past sexual child abuse.

Cassian’s eyes snapped open as he jot awake. His blood pounded in his veins and in his ears as he caught his breath, pulling himself back to the present. He rubbed his eyes and then looked at the clock, the red numbers burning his retinas as he carefully sat up.

His face fell into his hands and he took a ragged breath as he tried calming his blood.  His hand went to the weight around his neck, to the dog tags that fed him strength when trapped in fear. He was here, he was now, he was not in the desert, he was not in the past.

 Carefully getting up, he pulled on a pair of sweats, immediately casting out the idea of heading back to bed. He ran his hand through his hair as he walked down the stairs to the kitchen. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the whimpers and thrashing coming from the opposite side of Bay’s door.

He debated getting his wife but immediately threw the idea to the side as he carefully opened the door and stalked over to turn the table light on. Cassian barely had a hand on Bay’s shoulder when the omega flew up into a sitting position, scuttling backwards from him with a heaving chest, sweat glistening, making his ash gold hair stick to his forehead.

Despite the suppressants in the omega’s system, his scent was flooded with fear, such crippling fear and it had Cassian carefully holding up his hands, showing Bay he wasn’t a threat. “It’s just me,” he said calmly. “It’s Cassian.”

Bay’s eyes were flared with panic as he looked at him, no, he looked  _through_  him as he scanned Cassian’s drawn face. “What are you doing in my room,” Bay finally asked hoarsely, that fear still resting in his eyes though it was dimmed down with a shade of relief. “My door was closed.”

Cassian studied the omega’s face, at the paleness and the sweat. “You were having a nightmare,” he said a heartbeat later. “What were you dreaming about?”

The omega blinked slowly and he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and let out a slow, ragged breath. “Nothing. Just anxious for school in-” he looked at the clock and squinted, “three hours.”

Cassian leveled a long, hard look with Bay reading him, trying to solve the equation that was Baylor Perditus, as the omega turned back to face him. He leveled his own long look, refusing to cow beneath Cassian’s assessment despite his chest still rising and falling heavily and the bloodshot in his icy hazel-green eyes.

“You’re not by chance  _lying_  to me, are you?” Cassian asked.

Bay looked through him and was silent for a handful of heartbeats before, “Yes. I am.”

  The blood in his veins ran cold at the lack of emotion in those three little words from the tiny omega. He debated on asking him, what it was that he saw beneath his eyelids, seeing if he could get a straight answer from the pup but decided against it when Bay put his glasses on and slipped out of the bed without so much as a word to him as he stalked out of his room.

Cassian looked down at the sweat-soaked and wrinkled sheets. Rarely had he ever seen a child move that fast when touched. There had been a few, over the years, a few children who had wounds both visible and not who had needed his help.

He tried pushing that thought away as he changed the sheets for the pup and turned out the light and head to the kitchen. He started making the coffee, watching Bay grab a chair and sliding it to the counter and climbing up with a quiet look.

Bay bit at his thumb as he stared intently into the cupboard. His son’s face was as readable as a thunderstorm as he just stared into the space for nearly a solid minute before grabbing a box of Apple Jacks and hopping down. Something -or some _one_ \- was on his mind.

 When Bay made his way to the nook with his bowl, Cassian had already opened the paper to the sports section. But he got nowhere and closed it and looked down at Bay. “You know you’re safe here, right? No one’s going to hurt you in this house.”

  Bay looked up at him and cocked his head, looking at him with eyes made for someone far older than a mere ten-year-old child. “Can I have some coffee?”

  Cassian blinked down at him, barely stopping himself from gaping. “You want me to give a  _ten-year-old_  a cup of coffee?”

Bay just rose his brows and took a bite of his cereal. “I didn’t sleep that good. I don’t want to fall asleep in class.”

Cassian leaned back and looked down at the pup, at the dark circles beneath his eyes and the gaunt face. He looked as if he were going to drop in any second. “We don’t tell Nesta,” Cassian said after a while, dropping his chin onto his fist. “She’ll kill me.”

Bay smiled tentatively, some life rising back up into the omega’s freckled face. “Deal.”

* * *

Bay got up and made himself some coffee – with plenty of sugar and milk- and sat back down at the counter. He smiled down at the light brown liquid, the smell filling his nose and making him slowly forget the nightmare that had seared the undersides of his eyes and left invisible wounds to his body. Though he knew, that nightmare would be waiting for him when he went back to bed.

Bay took a hesitant sip of the scalding liquid, trying to shut out the building dread in his heart. He had to hope. He had to hope those memories would fade or even better- to completely black them out of his mind. He’d gladly give up ten years of memory to never remember what his father did to him.

Suddenly a knock came from the kitchen door and shouting came from the other side. Cassian slid him a bemused look before getting up to answer it, revealing Nate and his brothers in their uniforms.

Bay looked Nate’s uniform over. The pristine dark blue jacket and black slacks. His brothers wore identical ones, only they had their jackets off and button-up white shirts pushed up to their elbows, showing the expansion of tattoos on their forearms. Blake had an wolfish grin and Adrien’s face was smoothed out, neutral, and he had a cigarette behind his ear.

Nate came up and sat beside him, his eyes sliding down, looking at Bay’s pajamas before lifting them to his own, dark and glittering. “Cute PJs.”                  

Blush rose deeply in Bay’s cheeks and ears as he looked down at  _Loki_  pajamas Nesta and Cassian had bought him. The irony of it wasn’t lost on him. He flicked his eyes up, looking up at Nate with a frown. “Thanks.”

Nate just returned his frown with a smile as he leaned forward and took a drink from his coffee. It only deepened Bay’s frown. “That was mine,” Bay said, folding his arms.

Cassian snorted but Nate only had eyes for Bay as his smile widened. “You’re like  _ten_ , why are you drinking coffee?”

_To keep myself awake. To keep myself from going back. To never sleep ever again._

“Because I can,” Bay quipped with a raised chin, carefully taking the mug from Nate’s golden-brown hands and bringing it to his lips. “You aren’t entitled to know everything, Nathaniel.”

Nate’s eyes glittered. Bay could have sworn he heard coughs coming from the other alphas in the room. He ignored them though and took a sip from his sugar-fused coffee. It was so delicious and so hot: it felt like every molecule in his body was thrumming from the caffeine and sugar. “You’re adorable.”

Heat rose even more in his face and he glared at him. “I am  _not_ adorable.”

Blake laughed and Nate’s smile widened even more into a full-blown grin, making his eyes crinkle. “Yes you are.”

Bay sighed painfully and slumped his shoulders, taking another drink from the coffee as Nate leaned on his fist and watched him intently.

  His eyes lifted involuntarily to Nate’s long black hair, at the braid running down the side of his head showing the golden cuff in his ear. Everything about him was pretty: the curve of his mouth, the kindness in his eyes, the paint beneath his fingernails. It was almost unreal. No one should be able to be that pretty before puberty.

Cassian cleared his throat and Bay tore his eyes from his assessment and looked at the alpha with raised brows, well aware of the heat in his face. Cassian’s eyes gleamed and he tapped the watch on his wrist and said, “Why don’t you go get ready? Your clothes are sitting out for you.”

* * *

Adrien watched Bay hop down from the table and disappear through the kitchen door. Something was distressing the omega: he could smell it. There was also the bloodshot in his hazel-green eyes and paleness in his face. He didn’t know what was wrong and it bothered him.

Nate went to get up, to follow after Bay, but Adrien had his hand on Nate’s thigh, forcing him down. He ignored the savage glare from his little brother.

Blake sat at the counter, leaning forward on his elbows, grinning at their little brother. “He has a crush on youuu,” he teased, poking Nate’s cheek. ‘He’s in looove with you.”

 Nate batted him away and snarled halfheartedly. “Shut  _up._ He does not.”

 “Does too.”

“Does not.”

 Adrien pulled out his phone and blatantly ignored the squabbling from his brothers. He tried blocking them out but they just kept getting louder, causing Adrien to snap, “Will you both shut  _up_? It’s too fucking early for you idiots to be bickering. I’m going to get a migraine before class even starts.”

His brothers glowered at him and he just cast them a cool look. It wasn’t a secret, how much he hated school and getting up early. The migraines, the extra time it took him to complete an assignment, the worry of one of his teachers asking him to read aloud in class.

 “You’re an asshole,” Blake frowned.

 Adrien rolled his eyes. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Their uncle frowned and took that as his cue to get up and walk out of the kitchen, most likely to Bay’s room. Adrien just took that as  _his_  cue to grab him a cup of black coffee, bringing some wakefulness into his body before school began.

“Are you going to the party tonight?”

Adrien took a long drink from the bitter, scalding liquid, letting the caffeine buzz through his system as he thought about the answer. He had a hockey game tomorrow and it wouldn’t be all that smart to go to a damned party the night before but he found himself saying, “Maybe.”

* * *

Cassian leaned against the doorframe, watching Bay trying to work his tie. He felt himself start to smile as he remembered finding a home with Rhys’s family. Starved, alone, beaten. Homeless. Illiterate.  It was almost like looking into a shattered mirror as he looked at Bay.

He went in and sat at the end of the bed, watching Bay with no small amount of amusement. A small growl sat in the pup’s throat as he tried and tried again to knot his tie. Cassian smiled. “Want some help?”

The pup shot him a savage glare at the teasing lilt in Cassian’s voice. He held back a laugh as Bay’s shoulders slumped as he stalked closer to him and looked down at him. “Only because I don’t know how.”

“Been there,” Cassian sighed, straightening the black silk around Bay’s neck into a refined Windsor knot. “It gets easier after a while,” He said, flicking his eyes up to the omega. “Never easy, but easier. You just got to hold on.”

Bay’s eyes darkened and sharpened to steel as he immediately picked up on the change of topic. He stepped out of Cassian’s reach as soon as the knot was done. “I don’t want to hold on. I want none of this to have happened in the first place. She shouldn’t have died and he shouldn’t have touched me. Why should I have to do all the work when none of this was my fault?”

The amount of ache and pain in those words had Cassian instinctively reaching for his dog tags, giving him something to anchor to the real world and not the war. It was a fair question. One he didn’t have a good answer to.

  When he said as much the omega merely shook his head and thrusted his fingers through his bangs, pulling them out of his bloodshot eyes. The ghosts in the pup’s eyes had Cassian pulling his dog tags from around his neck and putting them around his. “Here. These will help you hold on when it gets too hard.”

Bay looked down at the dog tags, gingerly touching them with a small hand before flicking his eyes up to his. And  _God_ , they were so wide and his voice was so small, as if he couldn’t compute as to why he’d give him something so substantial. “Why?”

Cassian tried smiling at him. “Like I said, I like you and I think you need those more than me right now. Just try to not lose them, yeah?”              

Bay’s small fingers curled around the tags and he nodded silently. “I promise.”

* * *

Nesta managed to get herself awake and downstairs despite the sleepiness still resting in her bones. Two hours of sleep had her wanting to crawl back into bed, but she made herself get up and down stairs to see the boys off.

Her heart swelled in her chest when she saw Bay coming down the stairs, followed by her husband. The pup was in his uniform, his hair brushed out of his eyes and a chain disappearing into his shirt. Cassian’s dog tags.

  Next to her, Nate cocked his head and went up to him and messed up his hair. “There. Much better.”

Bay glared up at him despite the reddening of his cheeks and ears. “Do you know how hard it is to make my hair cooperate with me?”

Nate gave him a cheeky smile. “Oh trust me, you should try having  _my_  hair. It takes half an hour to get it the way I want it. You should embrace the messy, you look better with messy hair.”

His face flushed deeper and he looked down. “If you say so,” he grumbled.

Nate beamed. “I do.”

Blake and Cassian snorted. Adrien merely arched a brow. “Leave the kid alone. He’s ten, I highly doubt he cares as much as you do when it comes to looks, you vain brat.” Nate stuck his tongue out at Adrien and Blake laughed, causing Adrien to level a look at his older brother. “You’re  _worse_ , you arrogant fuck.”

“It’s not arrogance if you can back it up,” Blake said loftily, running his fingers through his golden hair.

Adrien just rolled his eyes.

Nesta cleared her throat and cut a look to Blake. “Drive carefully. It snowed last night.”

It was Blake’s turn to roll his eyes. “Trust me, I know. I’m a good driver, Bay will be fine.”

She knew that. She knew Blake was a good driver and she knew he obeyed the speeding limit, otherwise she wouldn’t let Bay near that Jeep. She debated on just driving him herself, taking him into the school and taking him to his first class. But she refrained from it, especially with the feeling it would just make Bay mortified.

“Good,” she said. She then turned her gaze to Bay. She went to hand him his green backpack only for Nate to take it for him. “I’ll see you after school, yes?”

Bay took the bag wordlessly.  She could see the anxiety, the nervousness on his face. Nate was instantly beside him, with an arm around his shoulder. “Come on. It’ll be fine. Aunt Feyre’s the art teacher so you’ll have an ally.  _And_ you can sit with me and my friends at lunch.”

Nesta watched Nate keep talking to the omega as they went through the door and out into the snow. As soon as the door was closed, her husband was in front of her, the easy smile from before long gone, leaving a harshness she had rarely seen. “We need to talk.”

  She went to sit on the couch as he claimed the chair beside hers. “Well go on then,” She prodded. “What is it?”

“I think something happened,” he said roughly. “Something worse than those bruises we saw.”

A leaden weight sat in her stomach and it would make a lesser woman sick. “You think he was sexually abused.” It wasn’t a question. When he nodded, Nesta leaned back and covered her mouth. Rarely. Rarely had his instinct about such things been wrong. He was a cop, a detective, who had seen horrible,  _horrible_ things both on and off the battlefield. “What-” her voice caught. “Are you  _sure_?”

Cassian leaned back and ran a hand through his long-tousled hair, his hazel-gold eyes filled with a rage that would burn the world to ashes. “It was the small things, at first. The reluctance to take his shirt off in front of Az, the fear of me being anywhere near him, the fear of alphas- of  _men_ \- in general. The one bed in that house, the lack of scent blockers. Not taking the kid to the doctor after he presented. Bruising looking like fingerprints.”

Her heart broke again and again in her chest, the pain and sadness and  _rage_ swallowing her whole as tears threatened to slip down her face. This- the horribleness of this- it reminded her of Tomas and what he almost did to her.

Tears slipped down her face as Cassian continued. “So many other things until I went in to wake him up this morning. I  _barely_ touched him and he was awake and a yard away from me and he asked me why I was in his room. He was so fucking  _scared_.”

“And earlier,” He said gruffly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Before we came down stairs, I was trying to get him to feel better by telling him to hold on and he told me he didn’t want to. He said that his father should never have touched him to begin with. He said touch and not hit and- all of it. All of it just made me think that man did something to that boy. It would have been so easy when Bay presented. The physical and emotional abuse triggered the presenting early. It wouldn’t have been a large step.”

“What do we do?” She whispered. “If he  _did_ , I highly doubt Bay is going to tell us and you know how hard it is to prosecute those cases, even  _with_ a testimony from the child.”

  Cassian leaned back in his chair and sighed painfully. “He’ll lie through his teeth. But the best we can do is ask him about it and go from there.”

* * *

Bay looked out the window, watching the sun start to rise over the row of houses as they neared the school. His heart pounded in his chest as they pulled into the parking lot. So many students. So many freaking students were at this school. And all wearing identical uniforms.

He barely registered getting out of the jeep and walking up to the school. His focus snapped into place as Nate walked beside him as they wandered through the throng of people, some much too close for his liking.

A low warning growl was in the bottom of Nate’s throat as he glared daggers at students who drew too close to them. To him.

Bay couldn’t tell if it was because Nate could smell it in his scent or if it were just on his face, the anxiety that was roiling through his veins.

Suddenly a shock of fire-red hair stopped in the middle of the hallway and then barreled down to him. Ash appeared in front of him with a wide smile on his face, his russet eyes far too bright for eight in the freaking a.m. “Good  _morning_ , Bay. Sleep well?”

Bay recoiled inwards and he shut down the memory so fast it nearly choked the air from his lungs. No he did not sleep well. He slept horrible and he had thought Cassian was his father. “I slept fine,” Bay said weakly.

  Ash frowned.

“Leave him alone,” Nate said with a low warning voice, his eyes narrowing on Ash.

 Ash flicked his eyes to Nate and rose a brow. “Or  _what_?”

  Students around them started to slow down, giving the three of them curious looks. His omega was instantly on alert, sniffing the air, zeroing in on the threat. He hooked his fingers around Nate’s upper arm and tugged him back. “It’s fine. Calm down.”

  Nate seemed to ignore him though. Aggression was pouring off him as he glared at Ash. He didn’t know what was going on, especially when Adrien came down the hall, his cool gaze flicking across the scene, reading it calmly before landing his gaze on Nate. “Knock it off,” he growled harshly, grabbing Nate’s arm. “You’re coming with me. Before you rip Ash’s head off.”

Bay’s brows shot up as Adrien forcefully dragged Nate with him to the principal’s office. His feet were moving, following them before he even realized what he was doing. Nate growled though, he growled savagely as Adrien pushed Nate against the wall, his feet planted as he stared down his little brother, directing a challenge. “ _Calm down, Nathaniel_.”

“What’s going on?” A female voice snapped.

Bay’s skin crawled at the iciness in her voice as he turned around to look at the female with upturned silver eyes and chin length jet black hair. The principal. Ms. Drakis.

“I don’t- I don’t know,” Bay stammered.

“He’s close to a rut,” Adrien bit out as he struggled against Nate. “He’s been spending his time around Bay while he had his heat and it triggered his first rut.”Bay’s head snapped to Nate and his eyes widened at the black hair in Nate’s face and the pulled back lips showing long canines. He knew what a rut was. He had witnessed firsthand the aggression and the violence that could come from one. He wasn’t a fan.

“ _Get off me_ ,” Nate growled, teeth snapping at his brother.

  Bay could smell blood, from Adrien’s stitches popping from the struggle Nate was giving him. Annoyance filled the alpha’s face as he pushed Nate further back into the wall, his broad hands firmly pressed to Nate’s upper arms, most likely leaving bruises. “ _Stop it_.”

Adrien threw a look over his shoulder at the principal, his black hair falling in his face. “Call my dad. He’s off duty and should be awake.”

Ms. Drakis sighed and went to the phone on her desk, dialing up no doubt was Officer Verrum. He barely registered her words as he looked at Nate’s black eye’s. He was caught between running and trying to talk him down.

So he froze.

  Adrien struggled against Nate and soon a man appeared in the doorway with a small black case. Queasiness settled in his stomach as the man withdrew a needle with a clear liquid in it and plunged it in Nate’s neck.

The alpha snapped his teeth at him but slowly started to stop fighting and Bay looked between them and a growl came out of his throat as Nate fell nearly unconscious in Adrien’s bleeding arms. Bay was instantly beside him, touching his face, examining it. “ _What did you do to him_?”

Adrien just helped his brother to the ground and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “He’s okay. We just took a little of the edge off. We got to get him home and there’s no way he was going to go like he was.”

Bay frowned and looked back at Nate’s fluttering eyes. His heart clenched in his chest and it had him wanting to move closer to him, to shield him from threats. But Adrien had other plans as he stepped back from his brother and pulled him with him.

* * *

Adrien looked down at Bay while Thesan checked Nate’s vitals. “You’re going to stay away from him. He’s going to get aggressive and violent and he’s not going to be thinking clearly.  He’s going to want to mate with someone. With you.”

Bay’s face paled to the color of paper, his scent flooded with fear as his eyes went unwillingly to Nate’s. Adrien gripped his chin and forced Bay’s hazel-green eyes back onto his. “He’s not going to touch you. You got four alphas between you and him and we know how to handle a rut. You’ll be fine.”

The relief on Bay’s face was painfully visible but what surprised him was when Bay said, “What about him? Isn’t he going to be hurting? My heat made me miserable.”

 _More like frustrated_.

“It won’t be pleasant,” Adrien said, pulling the gauze out of the first aid kit Amren took out of her desk and wrapped his arm. “But he’ll live. He’ll be dosed up a bit, to take the brunt of it. You don’t got to worry about him Bay. Worry about you.”

Bay’s eyes narrowed to slits as he looked up at him, his face too harsh and too cold for a ten-year-old or an omega who was a good two feet shorter than him. “You blame me for this.”

It wasn’t a question and it was thick with accusation. Adrien refrained from rolling his eyes as he finished with the paper tape. “I don’t  _blame_ you, Bay. Am I saying it’s your fault, no. I’m not. But is it because of you, probably. He wouldn’t be having a rut at thirteen if he hadn’t met you.”

“That’s not fair, Adrien,” Ash said.

Adrien could almost see the recoil inside the omega as Bay’s face completely blanked over. He could smell the guilt on him and he nearly sighed as Bay’s shoulders fell. “I’m sorry.”

  He waved him off. “It’s not your- why am I giving you this fucking talk?” Adrien snapped, examining the blood seeping through the bandages. “Didn’t your mom ever fucking tell you anything about a rut?” Adrien instantly regretted saying anything as Bay’s face lost any trace of emotion and his eyes darkened, almost in hate. Or grief. Or both.

“No. She did not.”

Ash frowned.

The clipped tone of Bay’s words had him feeling like an ass. Luckily, before Adrien could respond to it, Ms. Drakis came up to them, her silver eyes looking between the three of them before resting on Bay. “You must be the new student. Stirring up trouble already, I see.”

  Color rose in Bay’s cheeks and ears and he trained his eyes on the floor, nodding. Then principal sniffed and looked at her red nails and then flicked her eyes to him. “Your father should be here in a few minutes to get your brother home. You go to nurse’s office with Thesan.” She looked at Ash and Bay. “You two. Ash, you’re his guide. Bay, welcome to Maas Academy. Go to class before you end up late.”

* * *

Azriel stalked through the hallway in time to see Adrien, Ash and Bay walking down the hallway with Thesan. He could smell the blood on Adrien from where he was. He reigned in a sigh. Fantastic. Elain was going to give the pup a tongue lashing for popping his stitches.

  He entered the office, to find Nate slumped in a chair, nearly unconscious, but coherent enough he was looking at him. Or rather through him. Az knelt far enough away from his son that he couldn’t get his teeth in him.

“Your son nearly started a fight in the middle of a very crowded hallway, Azriel. Luckily Adrien got to him before anyone got hurt,” Amren sniffed. “They’re mates, aren’t they. The new boy and Nathaniel.”

  Nate was too dosed up to register any of the words Amren was saying. Azriel nodded lightly and took Nate’s chin and tilted it to the side, looking at the dark bruise, where no doubt a needle went in, on the side of his neck. “Dad?”

Nate’s voice came out sluggish and Azriel’s heart sank.  _Poor pup_. He guided Nate’s arms around his neck and picked him up. It had been  _years_ since he held Nate in such a way. Seven years in fact.

  Nate just rested his cheek on Azriel’s shoulder as he tightened his grip on him and braced a hand against his back, rubbing it, as he faced Amren. “I’m sorry, Amren. This won’t happen again. The past few weeks have been stressful.”

She waved him off. “No worries. Just make  _sure_ it won’t happen again. I can’t risk any of these children getting hurt.”

  He inclined his head and threw his coat across Nate’s back as he walked out to his car. With Nate nearly unconscious in the backseat, he climbed up front and drove the fifteen minutes back to the house.

  Azriel got Nate out of the backseat and up to the front door, where his wife was waiting for them with wide dark eyes sliding to the nearly comatose tiny alpha in his arms. She gestured for him and he handed Nate over as she pressed a kiss to his temple.

He led her through the house and to the furnished basement where Nate would spend the duration of his rut. Less damage would occur this way. They learned the hard way with Blake causing nearly a hundred dollars’ worth of damage to his bedroom.

He pulled the bed out of the couch and made it while Mor held onto Nate, whispering to him. Whatever she said, Nate just nodded lightly, his cheek pressed to her shoulder with his dark eyes fluttering.

After getting him laid down, they told him what was going on and Nate turned onto his stomach and groaned into his pillow. “ _Why_.”

Mor gave him a pitying smile and kissed the top of his head. “It’s a regular part of growing up. Welcome to puberty, Pumpkin.”

“Stop calling me that,” he said, muffled into the pillow. “I have a  _name_.”

Az snorted as Mor smiled down at him. “We’ll bring you some of your stuff every now and then okay, and the boys will make sure you don’t starve. Before you know it, the next five days will be gone in a flash.”

 “Yaaaay.”

* * *

Bay’s first class was, surprisingly, an art class he shared with Ash and another new kid. A girl with red-gold hair twisted into a braid and thick slashed scars down her cheeks. Bay had nearly crashed into Ash when the beta halted misstep, gaping at her.

  Bay was about to smack him for staring when Ash barreled forward and gave her a wide, unrestrained smile, his russet eyes glittering as he introduced myself. “Hi, I’m Ash. You’re the new girl, right? Angel?”

  She stared at him, her citrine eyes wide and bewildered but then she smiled. “It’s Evangeline, actually. I just started today.”

  Ash stared at her intensely and took another step forward. He had a good six inches on her. She was a few inches taller than he, himself, but she just looked up at him. And then his nostrils flared and he leaned closer and scented her.

Bay could smell her scent, it was lilacs and violets. It was very pretty, warm. It reminded him of Nate’s scent.

  Ash pressed his nose to her neck and she his, he could almost hear a purr coming from her. And it was honestly getting a little awkward, especially with the other students starting to look, so he pulled Ash back by his shirt.

His friend was incredibly still. More still than he had ever seen him. And his pupils were so very wide as he looked at Evangeline. Ash opened and closed his mouth and then said, “Nah. You’re an Angel. I’m calling you Angel.” Ash blinked, nearly forgetting Bay was there and pulled him close. “And this is Bay. He’s new too.”

Bay gave her a strained smile. “Hi.”

She flicked her eyes to him and introduced herself as they sat at emptiest table. Bay felt horribly out of place but at the same time, it felt like he had come home. He has once snuck in with a group of kids on a fieldtrip to the art museum. It had honestly been the best day of his life.

Ash leaned forward on his elbows, looking at Evangeline. “Are you more of a Peter Pan kind of girl or a Prince Charming kind of girl?”

They both blinked at Ash and Evangeline said, “Peter Pan? I guess?”

Ash nodded sagely and leaned back in his chair. “Good choice. Prince Charming is a git. Spends five minutes with a girl and he wants to marry her. How boring.” Evangeline’s eyes glittered and Bay snorted. Says the guy who is mooning after a girl he literally just met three minutes before hand. “Be _sides_ , Peter Pan is where it’s at. Like, who wouldn’t want to be able to fly or live forever or have a fairy for a friend? So really, is it even a contest?”

“Actually, Tinkerbell is a pixie,” Evangeline said. “Not a fairy. Fairies are big. Pixies are small.”

Ash blinked and then his smile widened slowly. “You’re right. You’re so right. I’m an idiot.”

Evangeline shrugged fluidly. “It’s an easy mistake to make. A lot of people think they’re the same thing.”

Before Ash could respond, the entire room quieted as a golden-brown haired woman with blue-grey eyes came into the room. Next to him, Ash leaned to his ear and whispered “That’s my aunt Feyre. She’s the art teacher.”

Bay’s head dipped into a small nod while Mrs. Archeron looked between all of the students. There were a total of thirty in the art class: a make-up of the fourth and fifth grade classes. Bay had been relieved when he found he had a few classes with Ash in them. Though none with Nate, besides lunch.

Mrs. Archeron’s eyes landed on him and she cocked her head.  _Please don’t call on me. Please don’t call on me. Please don’t call_ -

 A smile played on her lips and she flicked her attention to the rest of the room. “Does anyone remember what we’re studying right now?”

A few hands shot up and Mrs. Archeron picked on the black haired blue-greyed eyed girl who didn’t have his hand up to begin with. “Biela?”

Ash leaned beside him and whispered, “Biela’s my cousin and she’s freaking evil. Once, I accidentally drank her bottle of Coke and she bleached all of my clothes pink. It was a nightmare. I can _not_  pull off pink.”

Bay bit back a smile.

The girl scowled at Mrs. Archeron. “Van Gogh.”

“What about Van Gogh?”

  Biela’s face clearly had ‘ _ask someone else_ ’ written all over it and she flipped her hair over her shoulder, showing the trail of diamond earrings in her ear. “He cut off part of his ear and ended up in the insane asylum. He obviously had issues.”

Bay perked up and grew engrossed into the lecture as the teacher picked up on the rest of the conversation, giving them all a rundown on the tragedy that was Vincent van Gogh and soon after, each of the students got up to gather their art supplies and projects.

When the rest of the students got to work on their projects, Mrs. Archeron came over and sat at their table, leaning on a tattooed arm, her blue-grey eyes flicking between them. “You must be Bay and Evangeline. It’s your first day?”

Evangeline nodded.

“Okay, so The Starry Night was one of the first pieces of Expressionism and was meant to show Van Gogh’s feelings of isolation and loneliness. I want you to find a feeling, something from your past that made you feel like you belonged for the first time. It can be a person or event or even a place. Just have fun with it. You can use any media you want. I’m sure Ashton will show you where things are.”

Evangeline giggled and Ash muttered under his breath. “My  _name_ is Ash.”

Mrs. Archeron’s eyes glittered as she got up. Bay looked over at Ash’s painting. It was bright. Really bright. Full of oranges and yellows and splashes of dark blue. There was also paint all over Ash who was biting his lip as he looked down at his painting with red hair in his eyes. “What  _is_  that?” Bay asked, trying to decipher Ash’s painting.

Ash huffed.

“It’s  _abstract._ You’re not supposed to know what it is,” he said. “It’s a bonfire. Last Autumn I had a huge bonfire at home and a lot of my classmates came. It was really fun until stupid Blake had to go and invite his girlfriend. Then we all had to bare witness Blake and his tongue down Aurora’s throat.”

“Ash?”

His friend’s eyes instantly lifted to Evangeline’s. “Yeah?”

“Will you show me where the paints are? I know what I want to make.”

Ash’s russet eyes glittered and he was instantly off his stool and at Evangeline’s side. “Of course. I’ll show you where the good ones are. Nate has a stash hidden away.”

Evangeline smiled and Ash took her hand and led her away. Bay shook his head and gathered the art pencils from his bag. He was not subtle. At all.

Bay spent the next hour tuning out Ash and Evangeline’s talking as he sketched the grove of apple trees. He must not have heard the warning to clean up or the bell because when someone touched his shoulder, Bay nearly jumped in his skin as his head shot up to see the teacher in front of him with raised hands. “Hate to stop you but the bell rang.”

 Bay’s eyes immediately went to the clock to see it was three minutes after the next class was to begin. His ears heated deeply. It was his first day of school and he was already late to a class. Something must have shown in his scent because Mrs. Archeron sat next to him. “Don’t worry. I’ll cover for you. This time.”

Bay blinked over at her and frowned. “Why.”

She smiled. “It’s easy isn’t it? Getting lost in the art.”

Bay looked down at his picture. “I guess.”

It  _was_  easy for him. Drawing made everything go away. His dad. His nightmares. The bullies. The loneliness. A deep part of him understood Van Gogh. Understood the trouble and turmoil of life. The artist had taken his own life and sometimes, sometimes Bay wondered if that would happen to himself.

The teacher studied him intensely, her blue-grey eyes unnervingly bright. “I know that Nate had to go home and if you like, you can come in during lunch period to draw. I have no classes so you’ll be no bother.”

  It either didn’t want to register or it couldn’t: the sincerity of her offer. He’d had people be kind to him for nearly two weeks now but he couldn’t register why they  _kept_ being kind to him. He knew he had an attitude that left little to be desired and he knew he had a mouth on him. So why would people reach out. It had to be exhausting to deal with him and his issues.

The dog tags around his neck suddenly grew heavy and it was an effort to not touch them. He had seen Cassian over the past few weeks absentmindedly touch the tags, like they were an anchor for him. And the fact that he gave them to  _him_ , well, he didn’t know how to process that. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Archeron looked at him intently, her blue-grey eyes seeing something he wasn’t sure he wanted seen. “I can see why she likes you.”

Bay blinked and she got up and went to her desk to write something down and bring it back to him. He looked down at the font but he couldn’t read it well. The letters moved too much but he was able to make it out as an excuse for tardiness. “It was nice meeting you, Bay. Welcome to the family.”

* * *

Adrien glared down at the floor as he walked  _back_ into the emergency room, pissed that Thesan made him go to the hospital to get proper stitches. He was going to get pulled from the game tomorrow, he knew it. He just knew it and when he saw his aunt come into the room, with her smile turning instantly into a frown, it was just confirmed. “Adrien?”

“Aunt Elain,” he responded in a strained voice.

“What happened!” She exclaimed, storming over to him, taking his arm in her hand, looking over the wounds. “You were healing! Did you not listen? You can’t put strain on your arm, Adrien Lee Verrum. It undoes all the work that your body did and now your wounds are too bad for you to play tomorrow.”

He growled and she gave him a firm look as she went about  _re_ stitching him back up. “I’m sorry, honey. But the answer is no and unless you feel like sitting out the next  _two_ games, you’re not going to argue and you’re going to listen and do what I tell you. Understand mister?”

Adrien glowered at her kind but stern face. He wasn’t going to be able to change her mind. At all and he was going to have to murder his little brother after all. “I understand,” he bit out.

On the positive side, he now had a legitimate reason to go to the party. Or the minus side, he was going to be benched.

“Keep it clean. Don’t get into any fights.” Her shoulders untensed and she sighed. “What  _happened_?”

“Nate.” She frowned. “You saw him. He’s been getting more and more aggressive and then  _your_ brat challenged him in the hallway at school and I got between them before he took Ash’s head off. I had to hold him down until the school nurse drugged his ass.”

“Where was Blake?”

Adrien ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck, I don’t  _know_. Probably with Aurora. I think she was helping him with his biology homework. Besides, I’m stronger than he is. Nate would have ripped into him and then he’d miss his appointment with the army representative on Monday. Better me miss a game than him miss his future.”

Elain smiled. “That’s very sweet of you.”

He rolled his eyes.

* * *

Eight hours and eight awkward classes later, Blake drove Bay back to Nesta and Cassian’s house. His omega could feel something electric in the air and it had him on alert as he walked through the door cautiously, his hand going to the dog tags at his throat.

  The living room was empty but the air was thickly charged. He took off his shoes and coat and carried his backpack with him to the kitchen to where Cassian and Nesta were sitting. The beta’s eyes were instantly on his: Intense and cold and it had his omega sniffing the room, looking for the problem. It was saying  _he_ was the problem.

Bay swallowed thickly, stopping himself from turning around and running in the opposite direction. He was fighting his instinct to hide or climb, especially from the alpha. His heart was thunderous in his ears and he didn’t know what he did. “Did I do something wrong?”

Was it because he was late to class? “I’m sorry I was late. I didn’t hear the bell until Mrs. Archeron got my attention. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

He hated how small his voice came out. And how it shook. He was in trouble, wasn’t he. His omega was curled into itself but he made himself stare down the alpha and beta in the room. Cassian was incredibly still, his face intense and hazel-gold eyes lit from within.

  Bay kept his feet planted and he knew, if he took a step, it would be to run. His instinct would take over and it would be to get as far away from the alpha in the room as possible. But then Cassian let out a slow, deep breath and pushed one of the stools out with a foot. “Take a seat. You’re not in trouble, okay. At all. We just need to talk to you.”

Bay felt tears in the back of his eyes and he didn’t move. He couldn’t move. “Did you change your mind?” He asked quietly.

Had his mouth and attitude problem finally reached the line? He should never have gone into that library. He should never have let Cassian talk him into going home with them. He should have never gotten close to Ash or Nate.

  It was just like him to have something placed in front of him, something good and warm and kind and have it ripped away. That was his luck. Time and time again, he had made the mistake to let someone close to him, only to be pushed into the snow over and over again. This was why he ran. This was why he hid. If you don’t know there’s something better out there then you can’t miss what you never knew. But now he knew. And he felt his throat tighten and tears fall.

* * *

Cassian instantly regretted how he handled this. Bay looked smaller than he already did. His freckled face was splotchy, his eyes bloodshot and tears falling onto his cheeks. This wasn’t- no.  _No_. He would never change his mind when it came to the pup. No matter what.

Both he and Nesta were on their feet and kneeling in front of Bay, wiping the tears away. “Bay, never.  _Never_.” Nesta said firmly. Her voice was coated in iron. Strong. Impenetrable. Steel. Ice. “ _This_  is your home. You will always be welcome in this house and in this family. Understood?”

  Bay sniffled and looked at - _through_ \- her and after a very long minute, “Then what’s wrong?”

His voice wavered, it was more hollow than when he had found him. There was no fight in it, but God was there fear, was there wariness that was ageless and ancient, something that belonged to someone old, someone who had felt and seen the horrors of the world. Not a ten-year-old fucking  _boy_.

“Sit at the table,” Cassian said softly. “It’s about David.”

Bay’s face paled and somehow darkened all at once. The fear that was in his voice was now etched on his face but there was also bone deep  _hate_. “What about him?” Bay’s throat bobbed. “Does he want me back?”

Nesta motioned towards the stool. “Sit and we’ll talk.”

* * *

Bay looked up at her, at her glacial features that left nothing beyond an icy sort of truth. His heart was pounding through every inch of him as he wiped his cheek with the heel of his hand and sat at the table.

Both Cassian and Nesta sat across from him, both their eyes on him and they were intense. His omega still cowered beneath them, wanting to submit but he wouldn’t let himself do it. If he kept cowering, then he’d keep being afraid.

But this was about his dad.

And that made him more than afraid.

It made him terrified.

Silence stretched out around them and Bay forced himself to not get up and walk away. He hated quiet. That was how you knew when they we’re angry. They’d get quiet. It was the calm before a very violent storm.

“David’s been arrested,” Cassian said firmly. “He was picked up for possession of illegal drugs and for trying to sell to an undercover police officer.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bay said. “He’ll get out. He always does. Bars can’t hold him for long.” He had zero faith in the justice system. It had just failed him time and time again. “He has friends.”

Nesta and Cassian exchanged glances, their faces flashing with sadness or anger. Cassian leaned forward on his elbows. “The DA wants to try him for child abuse and-” Cassian took a shuddering breath, his face breaking and hardening and kind all at once. “Has he  _hurt_  you? Has he done more than just hit you?”

Nesta’s face was purely ice, not a shade of kindness on it, but that fury wasn’t directed at him and Bay felt himself start to retreat inside himself, to hide from the questions that he did not want to answer.

His throat tightened violently. “No.”

  “He can’t hurt you,” Cassian said softly. “He can’t touch you. You’re safe. You can tell the truth.”

“I am telling the truth,” he lied. “He never touched me. Not like that.”

Bay’s heart was thunderous and taking over his body and he was sure the alpha could smell the lie on him. He had to have. But he wouldn’t admit to it. He wouldn’t and he  _couldn’t_. If his father knew, if his father knew that he had told someone about what he did, he would kill him. He’d find a way out of those bars and he’d kill him. And it wouldn’t be quick.

They both stared at him intently and it took every shred of willpower he possessed from breaking eye contact. If he did, if he looked away, it would confirm everything and he hadn’t spent so much time trying to forget only for someone to know what happened. He wouldn’t become another statistic. Another poor omega. He  _wouldn’t._

“Are you lying to me?” Cassian asked.

 _Yes_. “No.”

  Cassian’s brows furrowed and more silence stretched around them and he didn’t dare look away first. He wouldn’t let them see the lie or the broken pieces or the invisible wounds. He wouldn’t let them see just how damaged he truly was. He. Wouldn’t. Break. First.

  You can’t fix something that’s broken. You can only replace it.

 “Okay,” Cassian said softly. “Okay. I believe you.”

Relief violently rose up and nearly choked him. He flicked his eyes to Nesta’s glacial ones. She’d be the one to convince. So he held her gaze. Shame and self-hatred coiled in his veins. Lying to these people that obviously care about him, that’s what he was doing. He was lying to protect  _him._ What kind of person did that.

He didn’t look away from her. Maybe she had her own reasons for not believing him. Maybe she had her own ‘David’. And she lied about it. And she could now see him doing the exact same thing. And just when Bay was about to crack and look away, she leaned back. She believed him.

  “The prosecutor still wants to try for child abuse,” Cassian said, “for him hitting you. There’s physical evidence that can be used but she’d like for you to be up there on the stand, to give testimony. Would you be willing to do that?”

“You,” Bay’s voice faltered and he swallowed the dread thickly. “You want me to get up on the stand with him  _in the room_  and tell a bunch of strangers that my dad liked to use me as a punching bag? He’s been hitting me for years and your precious justice system didn’t work then. Why would it work now?”

  Cassian’s face hardened and Bay recoiled inwards. Of course. Of course Cassian would think it would work. He was a  _cop_. He was one of the ones that had their faith that there was some good  _thing_ that would punish those that deserved it.

Cassian could believe that all he liked. But it wasn’t true. Where was his justice system each and every time Bay had been picked up by the police for stealing and his father came to pick him up: had they not seen his face, did they not scent his fear. Where was his justice system when his father broke him to pieces. Over and over again.

=“No,” he said raggedly. “I won’t do it. I’m not going to let a bunch of people know what he did to me only for him to be acquitted and have  _another_ reason to hurt me.” Cassian and Nesta both looked at him, he could see an almost pity in their eyes. He hated it. “Can I please do my homework? I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

Cassian and Nesta leveled him a long, long look and he was just… he was  _tired_. Of all of it. He just wanted this to stop. He wanted David to fall and rot in some hole and  _die_. And to leave him alone for the rest of his freaking life. “Please.”

“Okay, Kid,” Cassian said finally. “What do you got for homework?”

* * *

 

Around eleven o’clock, Adrien changed into a pair of black jeans and a simple white tee shirt. He had managed to completely tune out Nate pounding and beating on shit and _yelling_ below. Though it had started to calm down after a while. He’d bet anything something had been going on with Bay and he was tuned into it.

He went downstairs to see Blake waiting by the front door with his arms and ankles crossed. “You look like a 1960’s gangster,” he said in greet.

Adrien flipped him off. “Shut the fuck up, you asshole. Not all of us are as in tune with our inner diva as you are.” He grabbed his leather jacket and looked at his brother. “You’re designating, right? I don’t have a game tomorrow so you’re staying sober.”

  Blake looked at him. “Come on. We both know you’re not going to get drunk. So why do  _I_ have to designate. We can’t both be miserable.”

  Adrien sighed. “ _Fine._  But if you end up being an obnoxious pain in my ass you’re walking home. And I’m choosing the music,” he added, opening the front door. “I can only listen to Saving Abel on repeat so many times before wanting to shove ice picks in my ears.”

“Hey,” Blake said, stalking out to his Jeep. “You  _like_  Saving Abel.”

“Not on repeat I don’t,” Adrien retorted, getting into the passenger side. “Listening to that on repeat would make even Mom want to gut you.”

  Blake scoffed and pulled out of the driveway. “She’d never. I’m her first born. And her favorite.”

  “Actually I’m pretty sure Nate’s her favorite.”

“Okay,  _rude_.”

Adrien snorted and hooked his Ipod up to the stereo system. He didn’t bother with searching for a song and put it on shuffle. Thousand Foot Krunch began belting out as he looked out the window at the winter night.

He looked at the blanketed snow silently for twenty minutes while his brother talked about whatever it was that Blake talked about. Girls. His recruitment. Football. His actual high grades that landed him on the honor role more often than not.

Blake was smart enough to land scholarships to not one, not two, but three different schools and instead of going to one, he decided to defer school and join the army. He hated it.

He wasn’t sure if it we’re because he knew he, himself, wouldn’t be able to get scholarships for his grades and his brother threw that away or if it was because Blake was putting himself in mortal danger by  _choice_. Either way, Adrien hated it. And Blake knew it.

He pushed that thought away as the two-story house belonging to his best friend, Declan Salvaterre. The second the Jeep was in park, Adrien was out of the vehicle and stalking inside, enveloping himself in the sound of party music and laughter.

It didn’t take him long to find Dex, considering the man was a good five inches taller than him. He found him flirting with Sammi, or rather arguing with her, as per usual. She looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a wolfish grin. “Adrien, tell our good friend  _Declan_ that Rainbow Road isn’t  _that_ difficult.”

Dex glowered at the nickname and she just smiled broadly. Adrien just shook his head and said, “Nope. I’m not touching that one. Keep me out of your flirting. I don’t want to be responsible for the silent treatment I know you will be giving when she kicks your ass at Mario Kart for the umpteenth time,” he said to Dex.

Sammi snorted and Dex rolled his eyes. “Dick.”

Adrien shrugged. “You’ve been friends with me for the last eight years. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you.”

“It doesn’t,” Dex said flatly, taking a drink from the beer bottle in his hand.

Sammi kissed his cheek and Adrien scrubbed it on his jacket. “Looove you, Adrien,” Sammi laughed.

  He grimaced. Sammi was the little sister he never wanted but he loved her all the same. Her parents Fenrys and Asterin weren’t that bad either. “Yeah whatever. Why don’t you two go the fuck away and do what you normally do at parties? You turn into a bitch when you don’t get laid.”

  Her mouth dropped as Dex burst out laughing. “Fuck you, Adrien Verrum. I’m a ray of fucking sunshine. Calling me a bitch,” she said haughtily. “ _You’re_  an asshole.”

He arched a brow. “Am I wrong though?”

She flared her nostrils and pulled Dex away with her. Adrien shook his head and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, silently looking over the party. Why he came, he didn’t know. It wasn’t like he was much of a partier. He just knew he needed to come. For whatever reason.

Twenty minutes into the party, Adrien’s eyes locked on a girl with long black curly hair high up into a ponytail and dark skin. She was in a tight red Coca Cola t-shirt and baggy cargo pants that hugged her hips.

She was giving a set of Betas a tongue lashing but they obviously didn’t know how to leave a girl the fuck  _alone_. His temper started to raise and he pushed off the wall and stalked up to them. He slipped his arm around her waist and stared the two Betas down.

He swallowed the growl in his throat as he gave them a death glare. And after a few heartbeats, the betas turned around and walked away, both with their proverbial tails between their legs. As soon as they were gone, he took a step away from the girl.

He nearly froze in place when he looked at her eyes. They were a brilliant cognac that he’d never seen on someone. “Are you alright?”

The girl crossed her arms and glared at him. “I had that taken care of, you know. I don’t need some alpha coming in and saving me, Adrien.”

He blinked and took a step back. “You know who I am?”

  Her scent, her beautiful scent had him wanting to drop to his knees. But he forced himself to stay upright and not move closer. But she was making that difficult by raising a dark brow and crossing her arms and saying, “I’ve seen you race.”

  He blinked again and then slowly grinned. “You like dirt bikes?”

She cocked her head and his eyes nearly,  _nearly_ , went to her throat and his mouth went dry. Her scent was just… it was too strong: Cinnamon and oranges. His heart picked up in his chest and he didn’t dare step forward as she said, “I help my dad fix the bikes. That wipe out last year was really something. I’m surprised you didn’t break your arm.”

He swallowed thickly and ran a lock of black hair behind his ear. “I know. I got lucky.”

  It came out nearly strangled. He was so  _fucked_. So very, very fucked. He didn’t have a fucking  _clue_  who this girl was or why she was affecting him so damned much but it was obvious she didn’t have the same feeling. Either she was just ignoring it or she was a beta and didn’t have nearly as much of a sense of smell that he did.

But then she smiled. “It was a spectacular wipeout.”

Before she could respond, an annoying Blonde came over and smiled at him. “I wasn’t aware you knew how to smile.” And then he smiled at her. “You must be some kind of miracle worker. I’m Blake. Adrien’s older brother.”

Adrien shot Blake a savage glare, a growl tearing through his throat before he had a change to stop it. He was much too close to her. His instincts sharpened and he couldn’t stop himself from growling at him.

The girl’s smile disappeared and Blake looked at him, completely unbothered, though his dark eyes were intense. “Relax,” he said roughly, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes. “It’s not like she’s your mate. I was just saying hi. Jesus.”

Something clicked in him and his eyes snapped to the girl frowning at him, her cognac eyes shaded with confusion and annoyance. Both directed at him. And her  _scent-_

 _Oh my God_.

He had seen Nate growing more and more aggressive all week. Nate was willing to tear through Ash to get to Bay and he’s only  _thirteen_. He was sixteen and he harbored no illusion that he wasn’t that territorial. He was  _worse._

His eyes widened and he looked at Blake. “We’re leaving.”

  “We just-”

“I  _said_ we’re fucking  _leaving,_ Blake. Either you give me your fucking keys or I will hot wire your jeep and leave without you. You’re choice. Choose quickly.”

“Adrien-” the girl started.

He ignored her and kept his eyes on his brother. His heart was racing through every inch of him and he wouldn’t give himself so much as an inch. He’d bite her. He’d bite a girl he didn’t know. In the middle of a party with a ton of people around. People he’s go through like paper. For  _her_.

Blake looked at him for a heartbeat and then slowly shifted his eyes to the girl and widened and nodded. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

Adrien forced himself to turn around and walk out of the house. He forced himself to wait by the jeep. He forced himself to take the keys and drive himself and his brother home. He forced himself upstairs and into the shower where he scrubbed her scent off him harshly and he forced himself to go to his room.

_She’s my mate._


	11. Rut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azriel watched his wife strut out of the kitchen and then turned to his son. “He’s right inside that door. You open it, you get him down the stairs without hurting yourself or him. Understand?”
> 
> Blake nodded once. “Yes sir.”
> 
> Azriel put his hand on the doorknob and Blake braced himself. On the count of three, Azriel opened the door and Blake darted inside. The two alphas scuffling and Nate’s near animalistic growls echoed off the walls as he shut the door and followed them down the stairs.
> 
> Nate bared his teeth at both of them, his dark hair falling in his face. “Let me out.”
> 
> Azriel sighed at the bloodshot and the stiff cheeks, dried from tears. Azriel took a step forward and Nate’s near black eyes snapped to the blanket and pillow in his arms and he instantly stopped struggling and sniffed the air. A small whine loosed from Nate’s throat and Azriel nodded to Blake.

Azriel barely managed to get down to the bottom stairs before Nate was trying to get past him. Luckily Blake was fast and got an arm around Nate’s waist and holding him back while Adrien shut and locked the basement door.  
  
He looked around the basement in total disarray. Art supplies were scattered everywhere, blankets and pillows thrown about. Nate’s scent coated the air, thick with aggression and frustration. It curled his nose. An alpha’s rut scent was off putting to other alphas.  
  
Nate struggled in Blake’s arms, his hair falling in his eyes as he glared daggers up at him. Azriel sat the plate of food down and looked him over calmly. His son’s pupils were wide, black. He looked down at Nate’s knuckles. They were bruised.  
  
“I want out,” Nate half growled. “I’ve been down here for _ever_.”

  
Azriel reigned in his sigh as he carded his fingers through his hair and straightened. “You can’t go upstairs for a few more days, Nathaniel.”  
  
Nate tipped his head back against Blake’s chest and groaned deeply. He felt for his son. He knew the demands of a rut well and the frustrations that went with one without proper use. But he tucked that thought away and said, “Let him go.”  
  
Blake did as ordered and Azriel had a hand on the tiny alpha’s shoulder, stopping him from trying to get past them. “Keep yourself busy and it’ll be over with before you know it.”  
  
Nate’s glare could freeze over Hell as he shrugged out of his grasp and bared his teeth at him. “I’m bored,” he whined. “I can’t sit still long enough to draw and I want-”  
  
Azriel sensed Adrien lock eyes with Blake. Both the alphas straightened, bracing for a fight with the small alpha but Azriel slipped his pheromones around his youngest son, trying to soften the edge of frustration in his body. “What do you want?” He asked calmly.  
  
“I want Baylor,” Nate snapped.  
  
That biological imperative was going to ride Nate through the whole ordeal. Luckily for all of them, Bay was at Cassian’s and luckily for all of them, Cassian, Nesta and Ash were doing their damnest to keep Bay distracted.  
  
“I’m sorry, Son. But you can’t have him.”  
  
His son tried pushing past him, only for Blake to hook his arm around Nate’s waist to pull him back. “Sorry Runt, you’re not leaving.” A low growl sat in the bottom of Nate’s throat as he kicked at Blake’s shins. Annoyance flashed across the elder alpha’s face but he held tight. “You’re lucky you’re going through a rut, otherwise I’d be forced to get back at you.”  
  
Adrien snorted and came up beside Azriel and folded his corded arms over his chest. He looked Nate over, a small smile tilted up on his lips. “Sucks doesn’t it.”  
  
Both Blake and Nate rolled their eyes and Azriel knelt and clasped Nate’s face. His heart sunk at the shadows beneath Nate’s eyes. He’d bet anything the kid had gotten maybe four hours of sleep in the three days he’d been down here. He feathered his thumb across Nate’s lightly puckered cheek. “Mom made you supper. Why don’t you eat and try to get some homework done?”  
  
He highly doubted Nate would accomplish much but it was better than stewing in his own misery. Perhaps he’d tire himself out and pass out on the pullout bed. Judging by the shadows, he’d say he hasn’t gotten much sleep.   
  
“Fine,” Nate glared. “But I want apples. You give me apples and I’ll do whatever you want.”

Azriel smiled and kissed the top of Nate’s head. “Deal.”

* * *

  
The chatter at the dinner table was a dull roar in Bay’s ears as he pushed around his vegetables. He propped his fist on his chin and ignored the looks that kept passing his way. He had gone from spending nearly every day with Nate to not being able to talk to him for the last three days. It was whiplash and it felt like his chest was hollow.

His omega kept pestering him, telling him to go find Nate. But he managed to ignore it, seeing as how Nate was in the middle of a rut and it was his fault. Last thing he needed to do was make things even worse for his friend.

Ash poked him in the arm with his fork. “Stoooop,” he moaned. “You can moon over Nate later. Right now I get custody of you and we’re gonna have fun and we can’t do that with you  _pining_.”

Bay blinked at him, completely unimpressed with his pathetic wining. Though his ears burned scarlet. He didn’t think he was that obvious. “You’re  _annoying_. And I am not pining.  _Jerk_.” Cassian and Lucien choked on their drinks. He ignored them and pointed at Ash with his fork, “Why can’t you go bug Evangeline? You talk about her nonstop.”

Well that caught Elain and Lucien’s undivided attention. They exchanged glances and looked at their son expectantly. 

Ash paid them no attention and grinned at him, bright and unrestrained, his russet eyes glinting. “ _Because_. It’s my job as your best friend to make you feel better and I take my job seriously.” Bay frowned at that and Ash slung his arm over his shoulder. “Besides, I don’t talk about Evangeline all the time.”

“Yes you do,” Bay sighed, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. 

“Oh give him a  _break_ ,” Biela declared, rolling her eyes towards Ash. “No one wants to deal with your loud, obnoxious mouth all the time,  _Ashton_.”

“Shut up, Biela,” Ash snapped, unhooking his arm from around his Bay’s shoulder. “No one wants to deal with your stuck up, snobby attitude all the time.”

Biela sat her fork down and laced her fingers on top of the table. Bay’s blood frosted over at the small smile Biela was giving her cousin. Cassian and Rhysand muttered ‘oh boy’ as Biela said with a prefect calm, “You’re an idiot.”

Ash’s nostrils flared, and it was his turn to slam down his fork. Nesta arched a groomed brow and took a bite of her meal as Ash bit out, “Ice princess.”

“Moron.”

“Heartless stuck up  _harpy_.” Biela blinked, and Ash’s mouth snapped shut, his face paling. “Bea-”

_Oh no._

Biela’s small smile turned edged. She leaned forward, her hair slipping over her shoulders as her eyes turned cold. “Overactive, bigmouthed, gawky ginger who can’t even sleep without his  _nightlight_.” Nesta was the only one to not cringe.

Ash shot up and he slammed his hands down, rattling the silverware across the entire table. “You  _bitch_. Take that  _back_.”

“Oh shit. Go straight for the throat why don’t you,” Cassian bit his knuckle, eyes glittering as he looked at Bay. “You gotta love family dinners.” 

Bay smiled at him. He did. 

“Ashton Grant Archeron Vanserra!” Elain scolded, splaying her hands on the table and standing. “You watch your  _mouth_!”

At the same time Feyre exclaimed, “ _Biela_!”

Lucien, Cassian and Rhysand hid their smiles as the mothers’ laid into their children for their language. Bay couldn’t help but be deeply amused at the growing gape of Ash’s mouth and the bored look Biela was giving her mother. He just took a bite of his food.

“Apologize to each other,” Elain scolded. “ _Now_.”

Biela rolled her eyes and blatantly ignored the order.

“Come on!” Ash pleaded, looking between his parents. “The evil witch started it!” He shot Biela a savage glare that could melt the Antarctic.  “Would it kill you to be nice to someone for  _once_ in your  _life_?”

“It might,” Lucien said dryly. Elain gave him a look that had Lucien grimacing and muttering, “Sorry.” Rhys and Cassian snorted, and Lucien gave them a dirty glare.

Biela smirked at her cousin and flipped her thick raven black hair over her shoulder, revealing those trailing diamond studs. “Don’t play a game you can’t win, Ash,” Biela said, taking a drink from her glass of water. “You’ll only make a fool out of yourself.”

Painful sighs came from both Feyre and Elain.

Ash merely rolled his eyes and sank back down into his chair with his shoulders curling forward as he picked his fork back up. Bay slipped his eyes to him as a slew of curse words foul enough to curdle milk came out under Ash’s breath. 

 “You alright?” Bay asked in less than a whisper.

Ash flicked his blazing russet eyes to him and snapped, “I’m  _fine_.” He arched a brow and ignored his omega’s whining. It wanted to make Ash feel better, but he won’t let the hothead talk to him like that: even if he was upset.

Ash’s eyes softened in apology, and he sighed through his nose and whispered, “Do you want to go downstairs and watch a movie?”

Bay almost heard the unspoken ‘please’ and took note of the hint of desperation in Ash’s voice and he looked at Nesta and Cassian and said, “May we be excused?”

Nesta looked between him and Ash coolly from behind her glass. How on earth the beta managed to look proper in a pair of jeans and simple shirt was beyond him. Nesta sat her glass down and said, “Is your homework done?” Bay’s ears burned, but he nodded. Nesta studied him for a long moment and said, “Put your dishes in the dishwasher.”

At that, he and Ash both shot up and did as told.

* * *

Ash stalked down the basement with Bay right behind him. His stupid cousin and her stupid mouth. He went straight for the movies and scanned each one. Biela’s words like knives in his head. She knew what to say, how to say it, and the best way to make it  _hurt_. And the thing was, it was his own dang fault for calling her heartless. So she gave him exactly that.

Bay came up beside him and crossed his thin arms as his eyes went to the movies. “What do you want to watch?” Bays eyes locked on one of the reboot Star Trek movies and pulled it out of the shelf and looked at the cover. 

“Do you want to watch that?” Ash asked, taking the movie from him and looking down at the case.  _Star trek: into Darkness._  “If you do, we should watch the first one, first. Otherwise this won’t make any sense.”

Bay flicked his eyes up to his and studied his face, his ash gold hair falling into his eyes. “Do  _you_ want to watch it?”

Ash sighed. “You know you’re allowed to watch something you want to watch.” Bay just blinked blankly at him. He refrained from beating his head against a wall and plucked the first Star Trek movie from the shelf and popped it in and pulled Bay to the couch. “Come  _on_.”

* * *

  Nate stalked through the space. He didn’t know why he had to be down in this stupid basement. He’d probably sleep better if he was in his bed and not on that pull-out sofa. His blood began pounding in his ears and he smacked his palm against the wooden door. “Let me out! Please! I’m  _fine_!”

He could hear his family moving in the house and his temper began to raise. They were just ignoring him. He’d been down here for long enough. Baylor was probably missing him. What if he thought he forgot about him?

“Moooom!” Nate swallowed the building sob in his throat. “Baylor needs me!”  
He pressed his ear to the door and closed his eyes. He could hear the muffled voices of his parents talking and the music all the way down in Blake’s room. Tears rolled down Nate’s cheeks as he pressed his forehead against the door. “ _Mom_.”

Nate slid down the wall and pressed his forehead to his knees. Those sobs broke from his throat as he wrapped his arms around his legs. He just wanted out. He wanted Baylor. He wanted to be able to sit still for thirty minutes to draw a freaking picture.

“ _Nate_.”

Nate’s head snapped up at Blake’s soft murmur. He scrambled up to his feet and pressed his hands to the wood. “Blake, let me out.  _Please_.” His breath caught. “I’ll- I’ll stop telling Aurora to break up with you. I’ll let you use my markers whenever you want. Just let me out.”

Blake was silent for a long moment before, “ _I’d let you out if I could, Nate. I know what it’s like. You’re so frustrated and angry and you can’t sit still. You want Bay but you don’t know why. But if you just hold out for two more days, it’ll be done and over with and then you can have Bay_.” 

Nate collapsed onto the steps and dropped his face into his hands. He tried smothering the frustration, but it rose up like a tidal wave and drowned him. He wiped harshly at the tears and leaned back against the wall. Two more days. He could do that. Right?

* * *

Mor had never felt so helpless, watching her youngest going through this. It had been different with the others. They hadn’t been triggered by their mates. They were both nearly fifteen and not thirteen years old.

She cast Blake a look. Her son had gotten settled on the floor in front of the basement door and had been talking quietly to Nate for the last two and a half hours. But it was closing in on ten o’clock at night and she couldn’t keep having Nate barely get any sleep.

She felt an arm slip around her waist and she looked up into her husband’s solemn hazel gold eyes. He studied her face for a long moment of silence and said, “Go on. I know you want to.”

Mor pressed a kiss to his cheek and bundled into her coat and shoes and headed out into the icy winter wind. The bitter cold smacked her in the face as she stalked through the snow over to Nesta and Cassian’s house.

There lights on still.  And cars were out front. It would seem everyone was over. She went up to knock on the door and after nearly a minute of standing in the godforsaken snow and wind, the door opened revealing Biela looking up at her with her glacial eyes. “Aunt Morrigan.”

Biela was her best student. She had pushed herself to the brink, had bled, had such drive in being the best dancer she could possibly be. Though that forked tongue she had a tendency of using, left little to be desired. “Biela.”

Her niece leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms over her chest. “What do you want? It’s almost 10:30 at night.”

She met the eleven-year-old’s stare for stare, despite the utter freezing cold that was making her shake. “I need to see Nesta and Cassian.”

Biela studied her face coolly for a long moment before letting her in. Biela stalked back through the house, her hair swishing as she went. Mor reined in her sigh and followed after her niece, to find all the adults settled into the living room with a bottle of wine. The only ones missing were Bay and Ash.

Biela disappeared through the living room as the adults looked to her. Nesta looked her over coolly and Feyre studied her. Nesta slowly sat down her wine glass and got up from the couch and motioned for her to follow.

She followed her back though the house back to Bay’s bedroom. It was near spotless, interesting for a ten-year-old little boy. Blake and Nate were both messes, though Nate’s art supplies were always in impeccable order. Adrien’s room was orderly, but it hadn’t always been that way, definitely not when he was ten.

Nesta turned to her, those blue-grey eyes looking her over. “You want his pillows or blankets, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question and when Mor nodded Nesta stripped the comforter and folded it and handed it to her. Along with one of the pillows. “Here.”

Mor took them silently and said, “Thank you.”

Nesta studied her neatly trimmed nails for a long moment. She waited for Nesta to say something and just when she thought the woman wouldn’t, just when she was about to leave, Nesta said, “I hope those help Nate. He’s a good kid.”

Mor stopped in her tracks and looked at the female. Sentiment and kind words were not something she associated with Nesta Archeron. Not… this. But before she could say anything, Nesta turned from her and went to get another blanket for Bay’s bed. “So is Bay,” Mor said quietly.

And with that, Mor turned around and went home.

She went through the living room and into the kitchen. Handing the blanket and pillow to Azriel, Mor knelt in front of Blake and brushed his golden hair out of his face. “Go pick up your brother, Sunshine. It’s time for him to come home.”

Blake turned his dark eyes up to her. “He’s been sitting inside the door for the last three hours. I’m assuming those pillows and blankets are going to help him?”

“I hope so,” she said, getting to her feet.

Blake got to his feet and pressed a kiss to her brow and said, “I’ll go get him.  _After_ me and Dad take those to Nate. You aren’t going in there, Mother.” Mor rose a brow and Blake reiterated, “Please.”

Mor snorted and said, “Fine. You two make sure he gets those. I got some paperwork.”

* * *

Azriel watched his wife strut out of the kitchen and then turned to his son. “He’s right inside that door. You open it, you get him down the stairs without hurting yourself or him. Understand?”

Blake nodded once. “Yes sir.”

Azriel put his hand on the doorknob and Blake braced himself.  On the count of three, Azriel opened the door and Blake darted inside. The two alphas scuffling and Nate’s near animalistic growls echoed off the walls as he shut the door and followed them down the stairs.

Nate bared his teeth at both of them, his dark hair falling in his face. “Let me  _out_.”

Azriel sighed at the bloodshot and the stiff cheeks, dried from tears. Azriel took a step forward and Nate’s near black eyes snapped to the blanket and pillow in his arms and he instantly stopped struggling and sniffed the air. A small whine loosed from Nate’s throat and Azriel nodded to Blake.

Letting Nate go, Blake stepped back and Azriel handed Nate the comforter. Nate instantly bundled and inhaled deeply into the light green fabric, the aggression in his scent nearly evaporating wholly as he turned around and stalked to the couch.

Nate put up zero fight as Azriel handed him the pillow. Nate curled up into a ball and settled deep into the blanket. He was out cold before he even had his eyes closed. Azriel ignored Blake’s snort and knelt in front of his youngest son.

Brushing the hair of Nate’s face, Azriel studied the long dark lashes and the complete serenity of Nate’s face. Any trace of the near feral alpha who had bitten his own brother or had almost leveled Ash was nowhere to be seen. All he could see was a tired little boy who needed sleep.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Nate’s forehead and whispered, “Sleep well.”

Nate’s answer was a deeper burying into his- Bay’s- pillow and a tug of the blanket over his head. A small smile tugged at his lips as he stood and looked at Blake. “Did he bite you?”

His son shook his head as they walked out of the basement. With the deadbolt siding into place, Blake turned to him and said, “No. No he didn’t bite me. I got lucky.” Azriel nodded and Blake said, “I’m going to go get Adrien. You need anything else?”

Azriel shook his head. “No. Go get your brother.”

* * *

Blake pulled on his Letterman jacket and stalked out to his jeep. He was trying to ignore the building dread growing in his veins as he thought about Adrien’s growing resentment towards him. He hadn’t said barely a word to him in the last two days. Ever since his appointment with the army recruiter. 

He got in and drove the thirty minutes to the gym. The music was nothing but a dull roar in his ears as he thought about the complete neutral look on Adrien’s face when he told them all he was enlisting. 

Pulling into the empty parking, Blake killed the engine and got out and locked the doors. He looked over the building. It wasn’t much to look at. Brick, mortar, a half-rusted sign saying, ‘Golden Gloves Gym’. Damn, he could even hear the music from the outside. Adrien had to have whatever it was on full blast.

Blake swallowed thickly and made himself go inside, lest he freeze his ass off. The music nearly made his teeth rattle as he looked around the space. The wooden floors gleamed, and the equipment were all in great shape despite the outside making the place look abandoned. 

He found Adrien towards the back with a punching bag and bandaged hands pounding into it. Adrien’s bare chest was slick with sweat, his long hair hanging damply around his shoulders. Blake could almost smell the anger pouring off him. 

“Adrien,” Blake yelled above the music. “It’s time to go home.”

His brother didn’t answer. Either he couldn’t hear him over the music and thought he wasn’t there or he was blatantly ignoring him. And considering Adrien always knew when someone was there, it was most certainly the latter.

Blake went to turn the music off. The only sound was Adrien’s fists hitting the bag. Again, and again. He was in one of his moods. Great. “Adrien. It’s time to come home. Come on. The Jeep’s going to get cold by the time we get out there.”

Adrien’s only response was, “Turn the music back on.”

“No. Mom told me to get you home. We got school in the morning.”

Adrien straightened, chest heaving as he looked at the punching bag. He stood there for a heartbeat before turning around and walking back to the stereo system. Blake grabbed Adrien’s arm before he could turn it on and whirled him around to face him.

Blake scented him and frowned. “Have you been  _drinking_?” 

Adrien just looked up at him silently, his face blank. But those eyes- his father’s eyes- were glittering with anger. He yanked his arm out of Blake’s grasp and stalked over to the stereo. “Go home, Army Boy. I’ll find my own way back.”

Blake closed his eyes and sighed, “Adrien.”

His brother stopped in his tracks and gingerly touched the top of the stereo. Silence stretched around them and the only sound was the ticking of the old clock high up on the south wall. Blake watched Adrien’s bandaged fingers curl into fists and he turned around and demanded, “ _Why_.”

It came out softly. Whenever Adrien got angry, whenever Adrien was pissed or hurt, he got quiet. Quieter than usual. And that was when he was the most dangerous. Especially when he was drinking. Which was why he rarely touched anything to begin with.

“Why what?” Blake splayed his arms. “That I’m joining the army? I’m not cut out for school, Adrien. I’d rather be making a difference than being behind some textbook.”

Adrien’s face hardened and his bruised knuckles whitened. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He nearly snarled. “You’re maintaining an A-B average and are the fucking quarterback. I can barely keep my grades afloat, so I can play hockey. You don’t even have to try and what do you do? You choose the one thing that can get your arrogant ass  _killed_!”

Blake stilled, and he refrained from making the mistake of stepping close to his brother. “I’m not going to get killed. I promise. I’ll come home.”

Adrien folded his massive arms over his chest and leveled him a cool look, his lips twitching, almost baring his teeth. “Over forty-five hundred people have died in the army since 2003. Do you really think our family is going to be one of the lucky ones and you get to come back?”

Blake stared at him. “You looked that up?”

Adrien’s eyeroll was almost audible. “And they say I’m the dumb one,” He scoffed, wiping at his cheek. “Of fucking course, I did. I like to know what I’m talking about.”

“You’re not dumb, Adrien,” Blake said quietly. “You’re one of the smartest people I know.” His brother just stared at him in silence and Blake said, “I give you my word, I am coming home.”

Adrien leveled him a long look that could chill the sun’s rays. Blake refused to cow beneath that icy glare and right when he was about to tell him he was sorry, Adrien tore his eyes from him and stalked back to the locker rooms.

Blake tipped his head back and sighed and then whirled around and went to his Jeep. He was oddly touched his brother put in the time and effort into doing research. God knew the male hated reading.

He cursed at the bitter cold sinking into his skin as he climbed in. He waited for nearly twenty minutes until Adrien appeared, showered and in sweats. His brother climbed into the car and stared out of the passenger window.  
“Adrien.”

His brother turned up the stereo without so much as a word or look at him. Blake sighed through his nose and pulled out of the parking lot. Message clear.

* * *

Around midnight, Cassian pressed a chaste kiss to Nesta’s temple and headed downstairs with Rhys and Lucien while the women talked. None of them had heard a word from the three pups for a solid two hours. Considering Ash and Biela got along about as well as two cats, that left little to what they were doing.

Cassian carefully ambled down the stairs to find Bay passed out cold- on Ash- and Biela curled up in the chair, with her thick black hair covering her face. DVDs littered the floor and the television’s screen was showing the opening title screen for the second  _Star Trek_  movie.

He glanced to see Rhys smiling fondly between the three pups. “Think we should just leave them?” Cassian whispered.

Rhys shook his head. “Probably not. Ash and Biela would rip each other’s throat out if they had to share bathroom space getting ready for school.” 

Cassian snorted quietly and went to kneel in front of Bay. The pup stirred and squinted at him. “Cassian?” 

He nodded, and Bay settled back on Ash and started nodding off again. Cassian carefully slipped Bay’s arms around his neck and picked him up. Cassian stiffened at the small whine coming from the pup, but the tension unraveled as Bay nuzzled into his neck. And started purring.

Rhys knelt in front of his daughter and brushed the black hair out of her eyes, “Come on, Princess. Time to go home.”

Biela opened her glacial eyes and looked up at her father. “Time to go home?” Rhys nodded, and Biela curled deeper into the chair. “Go ‘way, Daddy. My feet hurt.”

Rhys snorted and picked her up. Biela curled deeply into her father and rested her cheek on his shoulder. Her face smoothed out from sleep, her thick black hair fanning around herself as she settled in his arms. Pure unbridled happiness shone in Rhys’s starry eyes.

“She has you wrapped around her fingers,” Cassian said dryly.

“Speak for yourself,” Rhys snorted, eyeing Bay. 

Lucien ignored the both of them and knelt in front of Ash. “Hey buddy,” he said softly, shaking him lightly. “Come on. We gotta go home.” Ash curled deeper into the couch and faced the inside. Lucien sighed and said louder, “ _Ash_.”

“Need help, Red?” Cassian asked. Lucien gave him a vulgar gesture over his shoulder and Cassian snorted. “Real mature.”

“ _Ash_ ,” Lucien nearly growled. 

The beta turned around and squinted up at his father. “ _What_.” He flicked his eyes between the rest of them in the room and then sat up and rubbed his eyes. A deep groan came from Ash as he got up to his feet and blindly made his way to the steps.

Nearly tripping, Ash grabbed at the railing and disappeared up the stairs. Lucien turned to Rhys and said, “I’ll see you at work.” Rhys nodded, and Lucien followed his son. A  _thud_ and then- “Ash, you okay?”

Cassian nearly burst out laughing at the slew of sluggish curse words coming from the small beta. Bay nipped at Cassian’s shoulder and buried deeper into him, his purring growing louder. Cassian ignored the glittering violet eyes of Rhys and carried the pup up the stairs. 

He found the females waiting at the top. Elain knelt in front of her son, examining the bump on his forehead. Ash just glowered at his mother as she pulled a penlight from her pocket and checked his eyes. “I’m fine. I just tripped.”

She ignored his protests and said, “Are you dizzy? Or have a headache? Any nausea?”

Ash rolled his eyes and batted her hand away. “I don’t have a concussion, Mother.” Elain studied his face for a long moment before pressing a kiss to his cheek and getting up to her feet. Ash’s face scrunched up and he wiped his cheek on his shoulder. “That wasn’t necessary.”

Elain hushed him as Lucien chuckled softly and said, “Go get your boots and coat on. We’ll be out in a moment.”

Without so much as a word to any of them, Ash stalked out of the kitchen, grumbling under his breath. Elain shook her head and went to kiss Biela and Bay on the forehead as she too left, leaving Lucien. “I’m sorry about dinner,” He said to Feyre and Rhys. “Ash hasn’t been sleeping well. Tends to make him more of a handful than he already is.”

Feyre folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the counter, her blue-grey eyes shaded with worry for her nephew. “What’s wrong?”

Lucien shrugged. “Pediatrician says night terrors. He should out grow them. Hes had them for a while but they’ve gotten worse lately. He can’t sleep in the complete dark without waking up screaming.”

That explained the ‘bitch’ remark. Had to strike a chord.

Stirring in Rhys’s arms, Biela buried her face in Rhys’s neck, a small whine loosing from her throat. Rhys smiled down at his daughter, his violet eyes bright with unbridled happiness. “We better get her into bed. She’s a nightmare in the morning.”

Lucien snorted. “I bet.”

* * *

  
After everyone left, Nesta went about shutting off the lights and following Cassian back into Bay’s room. She pulled out the blanket and top sheet for Cassian to lay Bay in the bed. The pup instinctively curled into a ball.

Nesta gingerly took the glasses from his freckled face and slipped them on the tableside. Bay buried his face in the light green fabric, his purring muffling. She pulled the blanket up over him and they went back to the living room.

Nesta settled into the couch while Cassian sat in the chair with his feet propped up on the coffee table. The only sound was that of the mantle clock. It’s ticking filled the room for nearly a solid thirty seconds before Cassian said, ‘The defense wants to cut a deal with the DA.”

Nesta lurched forward. “What.”

A simmering rage lit up Cassian’s hazel-gold eyes. “four to six years with good behavior if he gives names.” Cassian threaded his hands through his hair and said, “We promised that kid that David would go away for a long time. We  _promised_ him.”

“No wonder Bay has no faith in the justice system,” Nesta said numbly.

Cassian gave her a humorless smile. “DA said if Bay had agreed to testify they might have been able to put him away for longer but after Bay’s near meltdown in the kitchen…” He let out a ragged breath. “He’s doing good in school and sleeps most nights without waking up. I can’t do that to the kid.”

No. They couldn’t. Bay was safe, he was warm and happy. He was not going to feel any ounce of guilt for this.

Nesta sat back and laced her fingers together. “We’ll tell him about the deal and that we’ll make sure that man can’t touch him when the time comes. Perhaps the DA can make it an agreement of his parole. He can’t live anywhere near Bay. Not in this city. Not in this  _state_.”

Cassian’s face hardened to granite and he nodded once. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

“Good.”

* * *

The next morning Adrien braced the sides of his dresser and grimaced at the bloodshot in his eyes. Last thing he needed was to show up at school with a hangover. Lest he wanted to be benched for another game.

Adrien stalked to his older brother’s room and smacked on the door with an open palm. Blake answered half a heartbeat later. He refrained from rolling his eyes at Blake’s smug smile. Leaning against the doorframe, Blake crossed his arms and ankles. “What can I do you for, Adrien?”

“I need your eyedrops.” Blake opened his mouth and Adrien braced the doorframe. “I know you have some, you fuck. Let me use them.”

“I will on one condition,” Blake said. Adrien rose a brow and Blake said, “We have a talk about what you said last night.”

Adrien glowered at him. “Or, you let me use them before I tell Dad about your parking tickets. I’m sure the Police Captain would be interested in knowing his son likes to park in illegal places.”

Blake’s eyes flashed, and he growled quietly, “That was  _one_ time.”

“What’s it going to be?” Adrien asked. Blake’s eyes narrowed, and he rose his chin, calling out his bluff. Fine. “Dad!” Adrien hollered, holding eye contact with his older brother, issuing a direct challenge. “I need to tell you something!”

“Okay, okay!” Blake said, shoving off the doorframe and disappearing back into his room. “Fucking asshole. God you’re a pain in my ass.” Blake reappeared and put something in his hand. “ _Here_.”

Adrien closed his fingers around the bottle and smirked at his brother. “Dad’s at work. Thanks though,” He said, turning on his heel, stalking back to his bedroom.

After clearing his eyes, Adrien took a shower and got ready. He slipped a pack of cigarettes into his back pocket and slipped down into the basement to check on his brother. Surprisingly, he found Nate curled up on the pull-out bed with a large blanket and pillow. In a dead sleep.

He took a step closer and the scent of cypress and cloves hit him. Bay. His parents must’ve gotten tired of listening to Nate beating on shit and yelling. He had.

Adrien quietly went back up the stairs to grab a bottle of water and apple from the fridge. Stalking through the house to the living room, Adrien slipped his boots on and grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

The winter morning cold sunk into his tattooed arms as he stalked through the snow and to his uncle’s house. He knocked once and went inside to make himself a cup of black coffee. He ignored Cassian and Bay’s quiet talking and sat at the counter and took a long drink of the scalding liquid.

Caffeine buzzed through Adrien as Bay lifted his hazel green eyes to his as he took a long drink from his own coffee cup. “Is Nate okay?”

“If by okay you mean ‘in a dead sleep during the middle of a rut in the basement’, then yes,” Adrien said flatly. Bay’s ears turned a brilliant scarlet and he ducked down to take another drink from his sugar and milk fused coffee, his eyes training on the table. “He is okay,” Adrien relented, leaning back. “I suspect the next few days will be smooth for him.”

Bay’s lips tilted up into a small smile and he nodded silently, his ash gold hair falling into his eyes. Adrien could smell the guilt and relief and concern combatting in the omega’s scent. Adrien ghosted his fingers over the bite mark on his arm. His brother had crunched down on him in order to get to Bay- He had zero doubt they were mates. 

But it just made him think about that girl from the party four days before. He could barely get her out of his head on a good day, let alone her scent. His mouth dried and he forced himself to take another drink of the coffee in his hands.

His eyes went to the chain at Bay’s throat. Cassian’s dog tags. His veins involuntarily frosted over. He had bore witness to- and heard – Cassian getting lost in those flashbacks. So had Blake. And now his brother was going to witness the things Cassian had. He may come back, but he won’t be the same Blake he had grown up with the last sixteen years. He’ll be haunted.

Cassian leaned forward on the palm of his hand and ran his other hand through Bay’s hair. “Go get ready, Kid.” Bay glowered at him and then looked between them and silently hopped down from the table and disappeared through the kitchen door. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cassian said, “You got to respect his choices, Ade. Blake’s an adult.”

Adrien leveled an icy look with his uncle. “Yeah and what will that  _respect_ do when those officers show up at my door telling my mom that her eldest son is dead? What will that  _respect_ do when I have to go the rest of my life without my brother? I bet you have friends who died in battle, right? A nice long list of people that left a gaping hole in your heart and can’t be filled because they’re  _dead_.”

Cassian’s face hardened and Adrien knew he went too far. “ _Watch it,_ ” Cassian growled. “Those men died honorably serving their country. They were heroes.” 

Adrien looked down and Cassian said, “You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to want it. But you must understand that Blake is doing something he thinks will make a difference.”

“How is killing people making a difference?” Adrien demanded, slamming his cup on the counter. “All its doing is tearing families like  _mine_ apart!” 

Cassian’s eyes softened, “Adrien-”

Before Cassian could respond any further, Adrien got up to his feet and stalked out to the living room. He was too pissed to listen to whatever his uncle had to say. It wasn’t going to change his mind. He was going to lose his brother one way or another.

* * *

A few minutes later, Blake stalked through the snow and knocked on the kitchen door once and went inside. He stopped and frowned at his uncle sighing and running his hands through his hair. His frown only deepened at the lone cup of coffee sitting idly on the counter and the splashes of coffee around it.

Blake shrugged off his jacket and sat at the counter. “Adrien?”

Cassian flicked his eyes to his. “Yep. You talk to him?”

Blake sighed and curved his shoulders inward. “Last night I went to pick him up from the gym. He was drinking, and he gave me a mouthful.” Blake nodded at Cassian’s look of pure surprise.

 “Yeah.  _Adrien_ was drinking. He’s so angry. I thought with how much we fight, Adrien wouldn’t be too bent up with me enlisting.”

“His anger is understandable,” Cassian relented, splaying his hands on the countertop. “When I told Rhys and his mother I was enlisting after high school, Rhys got a bit bent out of shape too. Brothers will tear each other to pieces but would die for the other in a heartbeat. You know Adrien. Beneath that ‘I don’t give a fuck’ demeanor, he cares about a whole lot.”

* * *

Around noon, Nate stirred awake and squinted at the light streaming through the basement window. He sat up and smothered the yawn bubbling up with the back of his hand. He managed to sleep the whole freaking night. 

Nate looked down at the crumpled light green blanket covering his lap and brought it up to his nose. He inhaled deeply, and his body loosened up almost completely. A small whine loosed from his throat. He wanted Baylor.

Tomorrow. He’d get him tomorrow.’

Nate smiled into the fabric and bundled up and slipped off the bed and went to grab the strewn pencils from the floor and one of the sketchbooks on the desk and went back to the bed. He dug deep into the mattress and began to draw.

* * *

The books in Bay’s arms were so heavy. Why he needed so many textbooks was beyond him. He hadn’t realized how heavy they were considering Nate carried them more often than not. He walked silently to the locker room and went to his assigned locker.

The other boys’ laughter filled the room as they changed. Bay lingered, waiting to change into his gym clothes: a white shirt and blue shorts.

Bay shoved his books and the other clothes into the locker and went out to the gymnasium with the other boys. He went up and stood next to the last in line. Bay cast him a quick look. The boy was easily a head taller than him and had one of those haircuts where it was gelled up into spikes and purposefully made messy. Bay barely kept the grimace off his face. Why  _spikes_?

He pushed that thought away as the gym teacher came in. She was a tall woman with a harsh face and eyes that had seen and conquered storms. Her long black hair was high up in a tight ponytail and her defined arms were folded over her chest as she beheld her group of students the way a commander beheld their unit. Bay immediately liked her.

“Hope you guys like running,” she said with an equally harsh voice, her lips tilting up at the chorus of groaning coming from the majority of boys. Bay however smiled. If there was one thing he was good at, it was running. Granted, it was always  _away_ from something. But he excelled nonetheless. “Your fitness exams are coming up next week and after the stunt you boys pulled with the girls, you deserve to run until you drop. Or at least until the bell rings.”

The teacher gave further instructions and then blew her whistle. Bay and the rest of the boys spread out and began stretching. Bay took a spot away from the rest of the boys and quietly listened to them talk as they too stretched.

One by one, each boy began to start running around the gymnasium. Bay too began to run. He started off in slow and steady beat. It didn’t take long for his muscles, or lack thereof, to fall into a steady remembrance. 

Air pulled into Bay’s lungs and sweat slipped down between his shoulder blades as he forced one foot in front of the other. His heart thrummed in his veins and the world fell away. All that was there was the sounds of rubber hitting polished wood.

He ran and ran and ran until suddenly all the boys were filing towards the locker rooms. Bay carefully slowed to a stop as the gym teacher came up to him, her silky black ponytail swishing behind her. “You ever been interested in pursuing track? The new season starts up next month.”

Bay blinked blankly at her and took a ragged breath. “You want me on the track team?”

She gave him a brash smile. “You run as if it was Hell itself chasing after you, Kid.” Bay’s ears burned. She wasn’t wrong. “There are people who run for fun and then there’s people who run because they never had the choice to stand still. You’re the latter. You run because you have to. Because you  _need_ to. That’s exactly something I want on my team.”

Bay gave her small smile. “Can- Can I think about it first? I need to ask my-” Bay thought of a word to describe Cassian and Nesta and settled with, “my parents.”  
Warmth spread in his chest. Those words sounded right.

The woman nodded. “Take your time. You got a few weeks before I need an answer.”

* * *

After hockey practice, Adrien pulled his practice gear off and got into the showers. He braced the wall and let the hot water fall over him, melting the chill in his veins. The sounds of the other players was nothing but a whisper in his ears. 

After washing himself Adrien got out and changed into a pair of dark jeans and white shirt and sat on the bench to tie up the laces to his boots. Dex leaned back against the lockers and looked down at him and said, “Do you want a ride back?”

“Blake’s picking me up.”

Dex leveled him a long look. “It’s no problem, Ade. I’m sure you could use that cellphone that always attached to your hand to call and tell him that you’re getting a ride from me.”

“No.”

Dex sighed and pushed off the lockers and grabbed his duffle bag. “Fine. I’ll talk to you later. I got plans with Sammi, so it’ll probably be late.”

“Whatever. Talk to you later.”

Dex scoffed and stalked out of the locker room with the rest of the guys. Adrien sat there for a long moment, staring at the spot in front of him. His fingers involuntarily curled into fists and before he knew what he was doing, Adrien punched the locker.

Pain sang in his hand and he shook it out and pressed his forehead against the cool metal. His heart thrummed in his body and he pulled his leather jacket on and grabbed his own duffel bag and headed out to behind the rink and the empty parking lot.

Adrien leaned against the brick and pulled out the pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and lit one between his teeth. He took a long drag and let the nicotine go to work at calming his nerves. He was on his second cigarette when someone walked up to him.

Adrien froze at the familiar startling cognac eyes and the long black curly hair. Adrien went to turn around and walk away when she curled her fingers around his wrist and pulled him back. He could have easily walked away from her. He was stronger than even Blake, but he found himself frozen and unable to leave. So instead he tried to get her to walk away from him.

“What the  _fuck_ do you want,” he said coldly, crushing his cigarette beneath a boot.

The girl arched a brow and put her fists on her hips.  _“I_  want to know why the fuck  _you_  decided to just walk away from my like you did at the party. You go and try to defend me with that arrogant alpha ego and then you just take off without so much as a word to me.”

Adrien folded his own arms over his chest and looked down at her. His mouth went dry and his heart picked up in his chest. That scent of hers. It was an effort to not drop to his knees. “Do I need a reason?” He choked out.

The girl cocked her head and studied him carefully. “I did some digging on you, Adrien. You don’t play around, so I know there was a reason for it. What was it?”

His eyes went to the dark skin of her throat and before Adrien knew what he was doing, he had her pinned against the side of the building. Both of their hair whipped in the wind as she looked up at him, surprised. But not afraid. “Adrien?”

Adrien let out a shuddering breath, his eyes on her throat. “I was going to bite you. I was going to bite you in the middle of that party, so I made myself leave before I did it.”

She studied his face for a long moment. “Really?”

“Yes,” he ground out.

_Move Adrien. God damn it, move, you stupid bastard. Walk away from her._

His feet stayed in place, refusing to adhere to his common sense. The girl’s cinnamon and orange scent was tinged with surprise and desire. His blood frenzied. Fuck. Fuck. She tilted her head just a bit more and said, “Then do it.”

His eyes snapped to hers and he nearly fell back a step. “ _What_?”

Her lips tilted up and she slipped her fingers around his forearm and yanked him closer. “ _Bite me_.”

The last shred of self-control went up in flames and Adrien dipped his head and brushed his lips against the hollow of her throat. Her scent burned through his nose until it was the only thing left in his head. He forgot about Nate, about hockey, about Blake’s enlistment as he slid his canines into her flesh.

The girl let out a soft sigh as his teeth sunk deeper. Adrien ground against her as blood pulsed into his mouth. His hand slipped up from her arm to curl around the back of her neck. He barely sensed her hooking her ankle around his leg, pulling him up against her.

_Mine_ , screamed in his head, as he marked this girl. 

He ran his tongue over the bite marks, closing them, and looked down at her. She opened her eyes and Adrien dipped his head and kissed her harshly on the lips. Her arms looped around his neck as his tongue slipped in her mouth.

His instincts roared to life as he kissed and kissed this girl. He didn’t have her name and yet his alpha didn’t  _care_. All it  _wanted_ was her. Adrien scrambled for some semblance of self-control and forced himself to step back from her.

Both their chests heaved as he cradled her face with a hand. “I want your name,” he said roughly, brushing her lip with his thumb. She blinked up at him and he said, “I don’t make it a habit of biting girls I don’t know.” He wasn’t  _Blake_.

“Deanna,” she said a bit breathlessly, her eyes bright as she wiped the blood from his bottom lip. “I’m Deanna.”

He grinned and feathered a thumb over her cheek and dipped his head for a soft kiss on her lips. “It’s nice meeting you, Deanna.” She gave him a wry smile and he said, “Think we could back up and I could take you to dinner?”

She tipped her head back against the brick wall and looked up at him with glittering eyes. “Sure.”

 A car horn honked, and Adrien dropped his head and cursed. His brother had the worst timing. Lifting his eyes to hers, Adrien fished out his phone and pressed it into her hand and said, “Put in your number.” The car honked again, and Adrien shouted over his shoulder, “Hang on a damned minute!”

“I’ve been honking for the last five minutes!” His brother yelled. “Put it away and get in the car.”

Deanna snorted and put her number in and slipped the phone into his back pocket. “I’ll see you later, Adrien.”

Before he could respond, Deanna bundled her coat back up, hiding the bite mark on her throat and stalked away from him. All Adrien could do was stare after her.  _Holy shit._

Adrien tore his eyes from her and picked up his duffle bag and stalked out to his brother’s jeep. He ignored Blake’s smug grin and threw his bag in the back and got in. Blake chuckled low and started the jeep and pulled out of the parking lot. 

“So,” he said loudly. “Who was that?”

“None of your business.”

“Mhmm,” Blake said, “That’s the girl you freaked out about from the party, right? You finally get her name? Or were you too busy ramming your tongue down her throat?”

Adrien flicked his eyes to his brother. “Shut the hell up.” He barely kept the snarl out of his voice. Blake just grinned brightly and flicked his eyes to him. “Not a word, Sunshine.”

“You’re so fucked,” he said cheerfully. “She has her claws in you.”

Adrien tipped his head back and closed his eyes. “Whatever, Blake. It’s not like you have any fucking room. Aurora just has to say your name and you’re on your knees.”

Blake laughed low. “On your knees is a great place to be, Ade.”

Adrien groaned and turned up the music. “That’s enough from you.”

* * *

Over the next two days, Nate spent his time drawing and catching up on sleep. His thoughts had kept going back to his friend but they weren’t as possessive as they had been. His temper managed to smooth out, going back to normal.

But when his mother finally came downstairs, with his father, Nate knew he could finally leave. Nate was up on his feet and barreling for the door in a heartbeat. But his father caught him by the waist, pulling him back.

Nate groaned as his mother knelt in front of him and braced his face with her hands. “How you are feeling, Pumpkin?”

Nate scrunched up his face and batted her away. “I’m fine. Can I go now? I’ve been down here forever. I want to go over to Uncle Cassian’s.” His mother looked up at his father with arched brows. Nate rolled his eyes up to him and sighed, “Come on.  _Please_?”   
His father leveled him a long look, studying him for a long heartbeat. “Yeah, go ahead. Though Bay’s not home. He’s still at school.”

“Well,” Nate said loudly, grabbing the blanket from the pull-out bed. “I’ll draw until he gets home.”

“How about you do homework until he gets home?” His father said. “You got a lot to catch up on, Nathaniel. Three days’ worth.”

Nate grumbled and pulled the blanket over his head and stalked up the stairs. “Fine. I’ll do my stupid homework. But I’m still going over.”

Ignoring his parents’ laughter, Nate went through the house to pull his boots on and head out the door. The winter wind chilled him down to his bones as he stalked over to his Uncle Cassian’s house. He knocked on the door loudly until it yanked upon to reveal his aunt looking down at him with a frown. “Are you dragging that blanket through the snow, Nathaniel?”

Nate opened and closed his mouth and she sighed and ushered him inside, “In, in. Lest you get a cold.” Nate stalked inside and looked up at her. 

“Can I have some hot chocolate?”

Her frown deepened, and she sighed and said, “Yes. Go sit down in the living room and I’ll bring you some. Your father said you had homework, that correct?” Nate nodded reluctantly, and she said, “Go start it and I’ll bring it to you in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Nate groaned and stalked into the living room with the blanket.

Nate went for the couch and curled up into it. He nearly groaned at the soft material and pulled out his textbooks and notebooks and pencils and sat them on the coffee table, but settled in with his art textbook. Nate laid his head on the arm of the couch and opened the book.

* * *

Nesta sat at the counter and watched the time tick by on the microwave clock. She waited five minutes before getting up and smoothing down her skirt and quietly going out to the living room to find her nephew curled up with his textbook.

Just as she thought. 

Nesta went up and knelt in front of her nephew. Nate was out cold, his long hair in his face and Bay’s blanket wrapping him up almost entirely. Nesta debated waking the pup up to have him go to his room, or to at least give her the semi-damp blanket, but decided against it. Last thing she needed was Nate trying to bite her for taking his mate’s blanket from him.

So instead she gingerly took the textbook from his arms and sat it on the coffee table. Nate nestled deeper into the couch and pulled Bay’s blanket up further, obscuring the bottom half of his face. 

* * *

The end of class bell rang, and Ash piled his textbook and notebook into his bag and slug it over his shoulder. He ushered out with the other students and ignored the loud talking in the halls as he stopped short when some boy pushed Biela.  
Oh hell no.

Ash stalked over and pushed the boy away from her and said, “Back  _off_ , Jerk. On one messes with my cousin but  _me._ ”

The boy gave him a death glare as Biela scoffed and said, “I got this, Ashton.” She whirled around and faced the boy. Ash nearly winced at the heavy smack she delivered across the boy’s cheek. The boy propelled back two steps from the sheer force of it. 

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you it wasn’t polite to lay a hand on a girl?” Biela demanded. “The next time you touch me I’ll do worse than merely smack you. Next time, I’ll knee you and then you’ll have to learn to pee sitting down.”

The boy’s face paled and Ash smirked. “Trust me, if Biela’s threatening you, she’ll carry it out. She’s Satan in a skirt.” Biela gave them both a small, cold smile. “Walk away before she makes you a resident of the girls’ bathroom.”

The boy muttered under his breath and disappeared into the throng of students. Ash turned to his cousin and looked down at her. “You okay?”

She flipped her thick hair over her shoulder, revealing the trail of diamond studs, and glared up at him. “I had that handled. I don’t need my bigmouthed cousin to save me.”

Ash scoffed and readjusted the strap of his backpack. “Oh I’m  _sorry_. I forgot the ice princess didn’t accept help from anyone she deemed lower than her ridiculously high standards.”

Biela folded her arms over her chest and said coolly, “At least I  _have_ standards.” Ash glowered at her and Biela sighed through her nose and squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she muttered primly and then whirled around and stalked down the hallway. 

Grinning smugly, Ash shook his head and went in the opposite direction.

* * *

Two hours later, Bay hopped out of Blake’s Jeep and stormed through the snow up to the front door to his house. He went inside and shucked off his boots and coat and turned to see someone sleeping on the couch. 

Bay frowned. “Nate?”

Nate’s head snapped up and he looked at him and said, “Baylor!”

Before he could respond, Nate shot up and tackled him to the ground, hugging him. Bay froze beneath the weight for a heartbeat before hugging him back. Nate nuzzled into him and lightly nipped at his shoulder. “I missed you, so much,” he muttered against his skin.

Bay pressed his own nose into Nate’s neck and inhaled deeply. Apples and lavender filled his head and he nuzzled deeper into it. Bay couldn’t keep the purr out of his voice as he nipped at Nate’s golden-brown skin.

Nate’s breath shuddered, and he slowly pulled away from him and pulled Bay up to his feet and said, “I’ve sorry I couldn’t be here for you, Baylor. I hope you know I wouldn’t just forget about you. You’re my friend.”

Bay blinked up at him. He had been worried about him? During his rut? He should have been worrying about himself! Not him. Nate’s dark eyes were solemn, completely sincere as he looked down at him. How on earth was this boy so completely kind and warm. It was so  _strange_. Then again, he had been raised in a warm home with people who loved him.

But Bay found himself smiling up at him, despite the heat rising in his already red ears. “I know. You’re my friend too.”

* * *

A few hours later, after the sun had begun to set, Cassian pulled into the driveway and killed the engine. He bundled into his coat and headed inside only to see a set of textbooks abandoned on the coffee table and Bay’s comforter strewn across the couch.

He frowned and wandered back to the kitchen to see his wife working on paperwork. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and said, “I’m assuming Nate and Bay are huddled up somewhere passed out?”

She nodded once and lifted her blue-grey eyes up from her laptop. “They haven’t made a sound since Bay got home. Nate’s been sleeping on the couch since noon. Probably making up for all that time he couldn’t sleep.”

Cassian leaned against the counter. “I’ll go get Nate’s uniforms from Mor and Az. I don’t think he’s going home any time soon. He’ll want to spend all his free time with Bay when hes not at school. Those first few days after a rut… Yeah, we’re not getting rid of him any time soon.”

She shook her head and said, “No we’re not.”

Cassian chuckled and headed over next door. He knocked once on the door and yelled, “Open up! Police!”

He waited for nearly thirty seconds before Adrien opened the door and gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look as he said dryly. “That stopped being funny when I was eight.”

Cassian grinned and said, “Let me in, I need to get your brother’s clothes. Nate’s going to be staying with us for a bit.”

“Thank God,” Adrien muttered and moved to let him in. “Think you could take Blake with you?”

“Now why would I do that?”

Adrien didn’t answer as he went back to the counter and hunched over his textbook. Adrien’s face was a thunderstorm as he delved into his homework. Cassian didn’t miss the curved in shoulders or the firm line on his lips. 

Cassian wasn’t dumb enough to ask if he wanted any help. Instead he sat at the counter next to him and rested his chin on his palm. “Blake tells me you have a new lady friend.”

Adrien turned the page and said, “What about her?”

“We gonna meet her?”

“Not if I can help it,” Adrien muttered, carding his fingers through his hair. “She doesn’t need to meet my dysfunctional family so early into dating. Blake might so something stupid, like open his mouth.”

Before Cassian could respond, the familiar blonde head of Mor came through the kitchen and sat at the counter across from them. “What can I do for you, Cass? I’m assuming its about Nate?”

He nodded and said, “Came over to get some clothes. I figured we’d just let him stay in his room, if that’s alright with you. Unless you want to try to separate him and Bay. Though I’d advise not to.” He grinned. “Unless you  _want_ teeth in you.”

Mor rolled her eyes and said, “No, it’s fine. Let me just go grab some for him.” She stood and hesitated a moment and said, “Tell Nesta I said thank you. Nate’s been struggling but those pillows and blankets really helped him.”

Cassian arched a brow. “No problem.”

Mor disappeared through the house and Cassian leaned over to look at Adrien’s homework. It was messy, and some words were misspelled, but he kept quiet. Adrien’s brows furrowed as he looked closer at the page in his textbook and bit at his bottom lip. 

Mor reappeared a few minutes later with a couple sets of clothes and said, “I’ll come check on him later.”

Cassian took them from her and kissed her cheek. “I’ll talk to you later. Give my regards to Blake and Az.” Mor nodded and Cassian clasped Adrien’s shoulder. “See you later kid.”

Adrien didn’t so much as respond as he flipped the page in his textbook. Mor cast her son a worried glance and then fixed Cassian with a smile and said, “I will. Now shoo.”

Cassian snorted and headed out into the snowy yard. The chilly wind nipped at him as he went home. Nesta hadn’t moved from her spot. He went quietly through the house to Nate’s room and sat the piles of clothes on the dresser.

He looked at the bed, at the two boys curled up on the duvet. Bay stirred and buried deeper into Nate, his nose nuzzling into Nate’s scent gland. Cassian smiled at Nate slipping his arm around Bay’s waist, pulling him closer. The pup was completely oblivious to Bay gnawing at his scent gland.

He was certain Bay’s purring couldn’t grow any louder as Bay’s arms folded between them. Cassian went over and carefully pulled Bay’s skewed glasses from his face and sat them on the nightstand and headed back out to the kitchen.

They could do this. They could handle two boys growing up without knowing they were true mates. It would take careful crafting, especially when they got older and began dating other people, _if_  they dated other people that was.

But Cassian was certain. 

It could be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are loved XO


	12. David

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David leaned back and rested his elbow on the back of the chair as a smile crept up on his face. “You’re the one taking care of my boy, hmm? Has he been a good little bitch and behaved for you and your wife?”
> 
> Cassian’s fingers curled into fists and he took a calming breath and barely kept the snarl out of his voice as he said, “I want you to terminate your rights.”
> 
> David cocked his head and bit at his lip. “Awe, you want to adopt him? Is that it? That omega killed his mother. Because of that runt I lost my wife.” Something like hatred glinted in those eyes. “I spent the last ten years feeding and clothing that ungrateful brat. Most fathers would have turned an omega out on the streets or sold them off. But I didn’t. I gave him more than he deserved.”
> 
> Every instinct Cassian bore rose up violently and the next thing he knew, he had David up against the wall with his hand around the alpha’s throat. A snarl tore from Cassian’s lips as David’s face turned blue, “You don’t deserve that boy.”
> 
> “Cassian!” Azriel barked, from the doorway. “Let him go. Now.”

The police station was filled to the brim. Cassian paid the other cops and criminals no mind as he walked back to the interrogation rooms. He slipped inside and sat across from the hazel-green eyed, ash-gold haired male in front of him.

His skin crawled as he flipped open David Odium’s file and read through every charge listed. “You have a large rap, David. What happens to your kid when you’re doing a stint? Hmm?” He braced his arms on the table. “You let that ten-year-old sit at home alone? For weeks? Sometimes months at a time?”

David leaned back and rested his elbow on the back of the chair as a smile crept up on his face. “ _You’re_ the one taking care of my boy, hmm? Has he been a good little bitch and behaved for you and your wife?”

Cassian’s fingers curled into fists and he took a calming breath and barely kept the snarl out of his voice as he said, “I want you to terminate your rights.”

David cocked his head and bit at his lip. “Awe, you want to adopt him? Is that it? That omega  _killed_ his mother. Because of that runt I lost my wife.” Something like hatred glinted in those eyes. “I spent the last  _ten years_  feeding and clothing that ungrateful brat. Most fathers would have turned an omega out on the streets or sold them off. But I didn’t. I gave him more than he deserved.”

Every instinct Cassian bore rose up violently and the next thing he knew, he had David up against the wall with his hand around the alpha’s throat. A snarl tore from Cassian’s lips as David’s face turned blue, “You don’t deserve that boy.”

“Cassian!” Azriel barked, from the doorway. “Let him go.  _Now_.”

David smiled weakly at Cassian. A low growl sat in the bottom of his throat at the smug look on David’s face. “You heard him. Let me go.”

Cassian debated shattering every fucking bone in David’s body. He’d enjoy it. Probably a little too much, considering this male gave him the creeps with that cold smile of his. Cassian forced himself to let David go and said, “You’re going to rot.”

David huddled over coughing as he rubbed his throat. “You’re going to regret this,” he whispered hoarsely, his eyes glittering with hatred.

Cassian ignored him and looked over his shoulder at Azriel and drawled, “I slipped.” Azriel gave him a hard look and Cassian held up his hands. “Fine. I’ll behave.” He glared at David straightening himself. The male was shy of an inch shorter than him. It would appear Bay got his height from his birth mother. “You’re never getting your hands on him again.”

“If you want him so badly,” David said lightly, his eyes darkening, “you can have him. He’s done nothing but give me grief since the day he was born.”

_He doesn’t care about me or my safety. He’d probably be relieved at the chance to be rid of me._

Cassian shook his head and said, “Careful you might get whiplash from doing the right thing for once in your worthless life.” His blood simmered at the smile creeping up on David’s face. “Evil bastard,” he muttered stalking out of the interrogation room.

Azriel followed him and as soon as the door closed he whirled on him and hissed, “Are you out of your damned mind?”

“He deserved it,” Cassian said baldly, leaning back against the two-way mirror and folding his arms over his chest. “Something happened, I know it. Bay said it didn’t, but,” his voice faltered, “I can feel it. Bay’s covering for him for something. You don’t have a look like David does and only be a drug dealer.”

Azriel leaned against the wall and mirrored him. “I’ll look into it,” he said. Cassian opened his mouth to argue and Azriel held up a hand. “You’re too close to this.”

“ _Me_?” Cassian demanded, holding a hand to his chest. “What about  _you_? You took Bay to get his physical. You saw the evidence that male left on him. I saw the look on your face. You were ready to kill someone.”

“But I didn’t have David up against the wall,” Azriel countered calmly. “I have to suspend your ass for a week for assaulting a perp. Take the week to talk to lawyers about adoption. You’re not getting anywhere near your desk until then.” Cassian sighed and Azriel sighed, his eyes glinting in apology. “Turn in your badge and gun and go home, Cassian.”

* * *

Cassian spent the rest of the day with a lawyer and then went to the academy, just shy of before the school day ended. He showed up just in time to see all the kids leaving for the day. Cassian got out of his car when Blake and Adrien came out of the school and said, “I’ll take Nate and Bay home. You guys can head out if you want.”

Adrien studied him for a long moment before his lips quirked up and said, “You got in trouble, didn’t you? What’d you do? Punch someone?” Blake snorted. “I bet you got suspended.”

Cassian glowered at him. He didn’t know how the hell Adrien did that, how he managed to pinpoint shit like this. It was uncanny. If he hadn’t been the spitting image of his father, this would have been proof he was Azriel’s son. “Go to hockey practice, Brat.”

Adrien laughed quietly and threw his bag in the back of Blake’s Jeep. “Nesta is going to kill you.”

Cassian glared at him and then paused. “You look a bit pale, Kid. You getting sick?”

 Adrien flat out ignored him and got into the Jeep and slammed the door shut. Blake cast a long look at his brother, who tipped his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, and then looked at him and grinned, “Oh, he’s not sick.” Cassian’s brows shot up and Blake said, “You remember that first bite with Nesta?” Oh shit. Adrien bit the girl? “Yep, yep.  _Deanna_.”

Cassian shook his head and his eyes snagged on the two pups coming toward him: Nate with his arm around Bay. “Good fucking luck,” he told Blake. “You should tell your father. I’ll take the boys home.”

Blake snorted and got in his Jeep and rolled out. He caught a flash of Blake elbowing his brother- who punched him in the arm- and laugh.

Pushing that train wreck away, Cassian turned to Bay and Nate and said, “You kids ready?”

* * *

Piling out of Cassian’s car, Nate laced his fingers with Bay and pulled him through the yard and into the house. The warmth spread through him instantly as he pulled his things off and dragged his backpack to the couch.

Curling up on the plush cushions, Bay pulled out his book for English class and began to read it slowly. He barely registered Nate sitting next to him, or Nate hooking his arm around him and pulling him closer.

Bay rested his head on Nate’s shoulder as he delved into his book. Apparently, hours on end with Nesta and his English tutor had done wonders for his ability to read. Books had become his greatest friends and helped keep the nightmares away.

Nate curled his arm around Bay’s neck as he started to delve into his math homework. They sat in comfortable silence and worked on their homework together. Cassian sat in the chair with the sports section. Bay ignored the looks Cassian kept giving them.

A few hours later, Cassian got up from the chair and headed to the kitchen. Bay heard the clang of pots and pans as Cassian began to get dinner ready. Bay bit at the cuff of his hoodie as he turned the page in his book and brought his knees up to his chest. “Have you ever read this?”

Nate looked down at him and then the book and said, “That’s the one about the boy whose father was the sea god, right? He has to find a way to return a lightning bolt?”

Bay flicked his eyes up to him and said, “Yeah.”

Nate’s lips curled up and he said, “Yeah. I read the first three a few years ago. I love this one character. He’s the son of the death god. He reminds me a bit of you.” His dark eyes glittered. “Grumpy. Why you ask?”

Blush rose deeply in Bay’s ears and cheeks and he looked back down at his book and mumbled, “I was just wondering.”

Nate snorted and went back to his homework -which was now science- and said, “Cellular organization can bite me. Like I’ll ever need to know anything about cells.” Bay nearly laughed as Nate said, “The only thing I like about science is outer space. I’m hoping to send my brothers to Pluto, so they’ll finally stop  _annoying me_.”

Bay frowned at that. Nate had two brothers on top of two parents who loved him to pieces. He was wondered what that would be like, to have a sibling. To never be alone. But with his father being who he was, perhaps it was best that he had been alone. He wouldn’t have been able to protect them.

Nate turned to look down at him, his dark eyes looking Bay over carefully. “Are you okay? You’re scent changed. I- I didn’t really mean it,” he said quietly. “I love Blake and Adrien. I hate that Blake’s leaving and joining the army.”

Bay smiled a bit and brushed Nate’s dark, dark hair back behind the alpha’s ear with care. Nate stared down at him with wide black eyes and Bay yanked his hand back quickly as he looked away. Heat seared Bay’s ears and cheeks. “Sorry.”

What the ever-loving heck was wrong with him? He shouldn’t be touching him. He shouldn’t be so  _close_ to him. It was different when they were sleeping, but this wasn’t something he should be doing. 

Bay scooted away from Nate and brought his book up to hide the blush creeping as he delved back into it. Bay ignored Nate’s quiet laugh as the alpha shook his head and went back to his science homework.

* * *

Half an hour later, Nesta walked through the front door of her house to find Bay and Nate both on the couch. Bay was on the other end with a book in his face and Nate was doing what appeared to be English homework.

Nesta smiled a bit and went into the kitchen to find her husband cutting up tomatoes. She sat at the counter and began picking at her nails. “I got a call from Azriel earlier this afternoon.” Cassian flicked his eyes to hers and she asked, “Did that male say anything useful?”

Cassian looked over his shoulder at the door, as if he could see Bay on the other side of it. A smile tipped up on his lips as he came over and sat next to her and whispered, “He’s agreed to terminate his rights, so we can adopt Bay.”

Her heart swelled and Nesta wanted to sob in relief. Bay would be theirs. He would be theirs and he would be happy and have a home. A true home. Where he would be safe and loved. Nesta covered her mouth and Cassian wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him. 

“He’s ours. He’s  _ours_ ,” he murmured into her hair. “I spoke to the attorney. She said the entire process should take nine to eighteen months but as long as Bay’s willing, she thinks she can speed it up.”

“Are you okay?”

They both turned to see Bay standing in front of the door with a worn book in his hand as he looked between them carefully. Cassian let her go and Bay squeaked as Cassian hugged him tightly. “Cassian,” Bay gasped, wiggling in his arms. ‘Cassian, I can’t  _breathe_.”

Cassian sniffled and let him go. His hazel gold eyes glittered as he knelt down in front of him. “I talked to the attorney today.” Bay just looked at him blankly and Cassian said, “We want to adopt you. David said he’d give up his rights.”

* * *

The world spun around violently as Bay absorbed those words. They wanted to adopt  _him_? And his father just gave him up? Just like  _that_? Bay wasn’t sure how long he was standing there, looking at them like an utter idiot as he said, rather dumbly, “You want to adopt me?”

Nesta’s face was unreadable, her blue-grey glacial eyes giving away nothing as she leaned against the counter. Cassian though, his face, it was more open and was filled with sheer intensity as he said, “Yeah kid, we want to adopt you.”

“If you want,” Nesta added coolly, more formally than Bay had ever heard from the beta. “It’s up to you.”

Bay nearly pinched himself, just to see if he were awake. “Yes,” he rushed out. He didn’t think he could say it fast enough. Nesta and Cassian’s eyes lit up as Bay said louder, “ _Yes_.”

Cassian pulled him into a hug once more and pressed his lips to the top of Bay’s head. Bay’s heart pounded a mile a minute as he buried his face into Cassian’s neck and hugged him back. “Yes,” he murmured against his skin. “ _Yes_.”

  The world around him was spinning and he didn’t think he could ever be this happy. These people wanted him. These people wouldn’t  _hurt him_. Cassian wouldn’t hurt him. He finally had someone who wouldn’t look at him like he ruined their life.

Cassian sniffed and pulled apart from him and pressed a kiss to Bay’s forehead. Those hazel-gold eyes were bright and glittering and searching as he said, “You want spaghetti?”

Bay gave him a shaky smile and said, “Yeah.”

 “You’re going to turn into a giant noodle,” Nate drawled from the doorway.

Bay whirled around to see the alpha leaning against the doorframe with his arms and ankles crossed and a grin splitting across Nate’s golden-brown face. Bay blushed and said, “Yes, well. You have no room to talk considering you eat apples every day.”

“Hey,” Nate said, pushing off the wall and coming up to him. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Bay frowned up at him. “Elain isn’t that bad.”

“So it’s going to happen then?” Nate asked, flicking his eyes up to Nesta. Bay blinked at the abrupt change in topic. “He’s staying? For good? He’s going to a part of our family?” When Nesta nodded Nate pulled Bay into a tight hug and buried his face in his neck. “Good. ‘Cause I’m not giving you up.”

Heat spread through Bay’s chest at the utter sincerity and adoration in those words. The air squeezed from his lungs as Nate tightened his hold on him and Bay gasped out, “Why do you giants insist on  _suffocating me_?! I can’t  _breathe_.”

Nate scoffed and pressed a deep kiss to Bay’s cheek as he reluctantly unhooked his arms from around him. Bay could only stare at Nate as blush rose deeply in his cheeks and into his ears as air returned to his lungs.

_Did he just kiss me?_

Nate’s dark eyes glittered as he flicked Bay’s nose. “You’re so dramatic. You’re lucky it’s endearing.”

Bay swatted away Nate’s hand and said, “Oh, look who’s talking. At least I know how to hug someone without puncturing their lungs.”

Nate tipped his head back and laughed. Bay couldn’t help smiling at him when Cassian whistled sharply and said, “Go wash up, you two. Dinner’s done.”

Nate whirled around and ran out of the kitchen and Bay went up to Nesta and looked up at her. A small smile tipped up on his lips as she arched a brow. He didn’t know why, he didn’t know why he liked her so much.

But Bay wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly and whispered, “Thank you.” Nesta stiffened in his arms but quickly hugged him back. Heat seared Bays ears and he inhaled the calming beta scent of the female.

After a long heartbeat, Bay reluctantly unwrapped his arms from her and padded after the apple and lavender scent of Nate. He found the alpha in the bathroom humming under his breath as he washed the paint off his hands.

Bay sucked in his lips and he watched him for a long moment before clearing his throat. “You are way to cheerful, you know that? No one is ever that happy all the time.” It had to be exhausting. “It’s unhealthy.”

Nate shifted his dark eyes from his hands to him and flicked water in Bay’s face. “You’re getting adopted! Aren’t you excited? You get to  _stay_.”

Bay scowled and wiped his face onto his shoulder. “Did you think I would be leaving?”

He had. A small traitorous part of his mind had been telling him this happiness, this warmth was going to be yanked out from beneath him and he’d find himself back in the park. Or worse. Back at home.

 But Nate’s smile had every shred of doubt evaporating from his mind. “No,” Nate said firmly, resting his forearm on the sink. “Because I wouldn’t have let you go. You’re mine.” Bay blinked and Nate blushed. “My friend, I mean.”

 His omega stirred and perked up at the light in the alpha’s eyes. Bay ducked his head and nudged Nate out of the way to wash his hands. “I’m sure you have other friends, Nathaniel. You barely know me.”

He felt Nate’s gaze pin between his shoulder blades and it was an effort to not turn around and look at him. “I might have other friends, but you are my best friend. Besides,” Nate added, hooking his arm around his shoulder, forcing him to look up at him. “I know  _plenty_.”

Bay sketched a brow and said, “Oh?”

Nate’s black eyes could swallow him whole. “Yes,  _oh_. I know that you blush when you get complimented about something because you think you don’t deserve it. I know that you climb up on that bookcase when you get nightmares and I’m not there. I know you love Nesta and Cassian.” A smile quirked up on Nate’s lips. “I know you love spaghetti.”

Bay could only stare at him and Nate unhooked his arm and said, “You’re not an easy read, Baylor, but when I put my mind to something, I commit.” Nate took his hand and pulled him out of the bathroom. “Come on, I think they’re waiting for us.”

Bay barely sensed them getting into the dining room, or sitting in the chair with Nate right next to him. But his attention sharpened as the plate of spaghetti was placed in front of him. He picked up his fork and began to dig in when he felt lips press to the top of his head.

His omega purred contentedly at the warmth spreading through his chest. Nesta and Cassian settled into their seats and began eating as well. He listened to them talk about lawyers and court dates as he took another bite of spaghetti.

“How was school?” Cassian asked suddenly.

Bay blinked and thought over the day’s events and leaned back in his chair. “Okay,” he said after a long moment. “Ms. James asked me to join the track team.”

Nesta froze mid-bite and said, “Did she?”

Cassian’s brows shot up at the same time. “What did you say?”

Bay felt Nate poke his thigh beneath the table and it was an effort to not squirm. “I told her I’d think about it.” The pounding of his heart when his feet hit the ground at top speed. It felt like flying, all that wind in his face and thrumming in his veins. He loved running as much as he ran away. “But- but I think I want to. If that’s okay with you guys.”

“You kidding me?” Cassian exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the table, rattling the silverware. Bay nearly flinched at the sudden noise. “I think that’s a great idea!” Bay blushed. “The season starts up in a few months. We’ll have you ready by the time the snows gone.”

Nesta nodded. “We can get you some running shoes and clothes and schedule a physical.”

“I can use the shoes I have now,” Bay said hurriedly. “I don’t mind.”

He didn’t need them spending any more money than necessary on him.

Nate pointed at him with his fork. “First rule of being a kid:  _Never_ turn down free stuff. You can’t get a job and get money through legit means, so you need to either use that adorableness to your advantage or do what I do and except briberies.”

Bay wrinkled his nose. “I am  _not_ adorable.”

Nate’s eyes glittered and he gave him a smile that said,  _Oh yes you are._

“How ironic,” Cassian said dryly, taking a drink from his amber bottle. “that’s the first rule of being an adult too. But instead of using adorableness we use-”

“ _Cassian_ ,” Nesta hissed, cutting him off.

Nate tipped his head back and laughed hysterically and Bay looked at the older alpha blankly for a long moment before-

Oh.  _Oh_.

Heat seared in Bay’s ears and he said, “You’re gross.”

Cassian grinned at him and Nesta rolled her eyes and took another forkful of spaghetti into her mouth. “Don’t worry about your shoes,” she told Bay firmly. “If you used the one’s you got now, you’d still need new ones eventually. It’s no problem.”

Nate poked him, and stage whispered, “It’s what parents  _do_ , Baylor. Mom and Dad buy me art supplies all the time. Not to mention that Blake’s always getting new stuff for football. Even Adrien gets things for boxing and hockey. We make up for it by doing Mom’s dance classes. Blake and Adrien have been doing the classes since they were old enough to learn how to walk.”

Bay tried picturing Adrien in Mor’s dance studio. The male with a permanent frown and who always stayed in the back of the room. Who was quiet to a default and was built like a truck. It was… odd.

Nate clasped his hands. “Oh! I forgot! Mom said you can do the dance classes too. It’s every Wednesday evening. Though I warn you, Biela is there too. She’s a bit of a nightmare in the studio. Such a perfectionist. But at least she doesn’t complain. Will you go?”

Bay hesitated with his answer. He wasn’t sure if he were capable of not stepping on people’s toes. But the look of near pleading in those dark brown eyes, and the thought of spending more time with Nate had Bay saying, “Sure.”

Nate beamed at him. “Good.”

* * *

After dinner, Nate and Baylor helped clean up and he grabbed pillows and blankets from the closet before they padded down the stairs and into the basement. He went to pile them up on the couch as Baylor scanned the movies.

An adorable small crease appeared between Baylor’s brows as he thought over the movies. He picked out the first Harry Potter movie.

Baylor went to sit at the other end of the couch and Nate frowned and grabbed the male’s hand before he could get far. “Why are you going all the way down there?”

Baylor looked from their laced hands up to his eyes, his freckled face unreadable. “Doesn’t it bother you? That we’re sitting so close?”

Nate frowned and took his hand back. He hadn’t really thought about it. All he knew was that Baylor was his friend. He liked the way he smelled, he liked the adorable frown he got when Nate took his coffee away from him. He liked the way Baylor curled up beside him and rested his head on his shoulder when they were watching movies or doing homework together. “Does it bother  _you_? I like snuggling up with you. It makes me feel nice knowing you trust me to be near you.”

 ]Baylor regarded him for a long moment before color rose up deeply in his cheeks. “It doesn’t bother me. I just, I’ve never really had friends, so I don’t know what’s okay or not.”

Nate smiled. “Its okay. I  _promise_.” He tugged Baylor down next to him. “Come on, the movie’s gonna start.”

Baylor settled next to him, drawing up his legs to his chest. The omega’s cypress and cloves scent filled his nose and before he realized what he was doing, Nate tugged the male closer into him, trying to get more of that scent into his nose.

They watched the movie. And then another and another and Baylor had somehow ended up nearly on top of him, nearly biting him, gnawing at his shoulder, purring deeply as he dozed in and out of sleep.

Nate didn’t mind. It didn’t hurt, if anything it felt a bit like a kitten biting someone with milk teeth: A bit sharp but didn’t break the skin. It was endearing.

Nate dug into the bag of popcorn he had gotten them a bit ago and popped a few pieces in his mouth as Baylor kept gnawing at him. His attention was fixed on the movie and he was certain he hadn’t watched much of the movie for the last half hour. He was too tired.

He heard the basement door open and heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Nate flicked his eyes to see Cassian coming down the stairs, followed by Nesta. The beta flicked her eyes over him and Baylor, utterly unreadable, as a frown dipped on her lips.

Cassian came forward and knelt in front of them as Nate said, “What time is it?”

“Nearly eleven,” Cassian said, carefully trying to shake Baylor awake. “C’mon, it’s time for bed.”

Baylor curled deeper into him and Cassian sighed through his nose, his eyes glittering as he pulled Baylor’s arm from around Nate and picked him up. Baylor whined at the loss of biting at Nate, but the omega never woke. He merely curled into Cassian and began nipping at  _him_.

Nate frowned and Cassian chuckled lightly and said, “Come on, you need to shower and change. This one can shower in the morning. He’d probably fall asleep in the tub.”

Nate yawned into his hand as he stood and stretched. “Yeah okay,” he sighed, padding past Cassian and Nesta and up the stairs.

* * *

Cassian carefully shifted Bay to his side, letting the tiny omega purr contently and nip at his shoulder while Nesta picked up the array of DVDs and put them away. He rubbed Bay’s back and listened to the purring grow louder.

This boy.  _This_ little boy who had seen horrors and had lived through god knew what the last ten years, he was his. He was going to be his legally, financially, physically. In every way that made a child a parent’s. Outside of blood.

Cassian followed Nesta up the stairs. “Think he’ll sleep in his own room?”

“No,” Nesta said, shaking her head, her eyes flicking to Bay and softening as she brushed his hair out of his eyes. “He nearly bit him.”

Cassian sighed through his nose. “Do you want to explain to them  _why_ they can’t be biting at each other.”

Nesta didn’t dignify him with a response as they padded down the hallway to Bay’s bedroom. The bedroom’s overall scent had changed to include a soft blend of the pups’ scents, since Nate had been in the room with Bay over the past couple of nights.

Nesta pulled back the top sheet and comforter as Nate padded into the room in dark purple pajamas and his wet black hair tied back into a braid.

“My hair’s going to be a pain to untangle in the morning and it’ll be all your fault,” the small alpha sulked, yawning into the back of his hand.

Cassian snorted. “Get in the bed, brat. I’ll help untangle in the morning.”

“Good,” was all Nate said as he crawled up in the bed.

The second Nate’s head hit the pillow, he was almost instantly asleep. A groan was in the bottom of the small alpha’s throat as he buried his face in the light green pillow. Nesta gave him a look as she took a step back and plucked the glasses from Bay’s face.

He laid the small omega in the sheets and watched as pup curled into a ball. Nate instinctively pulled Bay close and buried his nose in the omega’s neck. Bay was dead to the world as Nate curled his arm around Bay protectively.

Cassian put his hand on the small of Nesta’s back as she studied Bay’s glasses. “These are all scratched up,” she murmured, a frown dipping on her lips. “I’ll make an appointment with an Optometrist when I set up an appointment for his physical. Two birds, one stone.”

She carefully folded the glasses and sat them on the end table and he followed her out of the bedroom and down to the living room. Nesta claimed the chair as he sprawled out on the coach. “I got suspended for the week.”

Not a flicker of surprise showed in Nesta’s glacial eyes. “I figured as much,” she said, picking at her nails. “What happened?’

Cassian shrugged fluidly. “I may have thrown David against the wall in a chokehold. Az stopped me before I could shatter every bone in the prick’s body.”

Nesta sniffed. “I’m sure he deserved it.”

“He did. The look in that male’s eye,” Cassian shuddered. “It was… unsettling. I didn’t like it. But it was what he said about Bay that made me lose my temper. Who the fuck says things about their children like that? He said Bay killed his mother.”

Nesta’s gaze darkened and she flicked her eyes up. “When can the lawyer draw up the papers.”

“Tomorrow,” Cassian said. “I told Aelin about Bay’s situation and I could have sworn she looked ready to burn the place down. She said she’ll push up the dates as much as she can. We can go see David the day after tomorrow to get them signed. She’s also a notary, so we’ll be set. But then we have to go through the courts. But the hard part will be done.”

Nesta nodded faintly. “He’s assimilating well. Wants to do track. His tutor says he’s taken to reading. Loves it.”

Cassian grinned. “Sounds like someone I know.”

Nesta rolled her eyes.

* * *

Two days later, Nesta began filing her things away. The office around her was full of clothing samples and sounds of the others arguing over the spring line-up. Her eyes kept darting to the clock, kept thinking about the winding down until she and Cassian could so see David.

“Nesta.”

She didnt bother looking up from the photos as she said, “What do you want, Casey.”

“The marketing department isn’t sure about the colors for the cover. They wanted to get a second opinion from the boss.”

Nesta sighed through her nose and held out her hand. “Give me.”

Casey rushed the templates forward and gave them to her. Nesta flicked her gaze over them and hummed beneath her breath and said, “Change the font to Playfair Display and put more saturation in the eyes. Use them as your focal point.”

She handed over the templates and stood from her chair. “I’ll be out the rest of the day. Get the rest of those covers done and on my desk for first thing in the morning.” She grabbed her coat and slipped it on. “No exceptions.”

 Casey nodded and Nesta stalked out of the office and out to car. Her blood thrummed in her veins the closer she got to the house. The sky was grey and the snow was settled from the storm the night before.

Cassian waited outside the front door in a white button down and black slacks, his dark brown hair tied back. His eyes locked on the car and a grin spread on his lips. He started towards the car before she even had it parked.

She pulled over and he climbed in and buckled up. Cassian gave her a quick kiss as he settled and she began to drive. Her mate’s incessant tapping fingers against his knee was the only noise in the car and it was grating on her nerves. She chose to ignore it, seeing as how he looked how she felt.

The precinct appeared over the hill and Nesta caught a flash of golden hair whipping in the wind. Aelin. The female flashed them a brilliant smile that didn’t quite reach those gold-rimmed eyes as Nesta parked the car.

She shut off the ignition and forced air into her lungs. Again and again. Until her nerves evened out. Getting out of the car, Nesta waited for her mate and locked the doors before stalking up to Aelin. The female smiled at her and said, “Lets get some papers signed, hmm?”

They followed Aelin into the building. The cops and detectives didnt look up from their desks, the assailants didn’t give them a look either. But Az. Azriel lifted his eyes from a file on his desk and they pinned on her mate.

HIs face didn’t move as he regarded them for a heartbeat, and then another, before getting up from his desk and coming up to them. His eyes flicked to Cassian and he said, “We going to play nice this time?”

Cassian’s grin didn’t reach his eyes. “I will if he will.”

Aelin snorted. “We should get this started. I have a lunch date that I need to be at. My husband can get a bit pissy when I get in trouble.”

Azriel shook his head and led them past several desks to the interrogation rooms. He stopped in front of the third room and placed a hand on the doorknob. “You’ll have total privacy. David and his lawyer have been here for about half an hour.”

Azriel pushed the door open and shouldered past them and back down the hall. Nesta squared her shoulders and stalked into the room and her blood froze at the male’s face. SHe nearly stopped all together as he looked at her.

It was Bay’s face. Same eyes, same freckles and hair. No. That wasn’t right. Bay’s eyes were always searching, always watching. These eyes were flat and knowing. Nesta forced herself to sit in the chair across from him.

Aelin and Cassian sat on the other side of her and each gave David a look that said they’d love nothing more than to rip out his throat. Aelin slipped her briefcase on the smooth table and with a soft click, opened it to pull out papers.

She slid them in front of David’s attorney. “You’ll find everything you need including form 12587 to relinquish your rights. The fee has already been taken care of by my clients. All that is required on your part, is your signature.”

David leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table, the shackles on his wrists gleaming in the light. “How do I know y’all won’t mistreat my boy?” He said lightly, those hazel-green eyes glinting. “Omegas need proper handling. How do I know y’all won’t  _sell him_.”

The male had the same southern drawl that Bay did. If a bit more thick, not as diluted from spending time in the north.

Nesta swallowed her growl and smoothed her face into indifference. “Bay has been doing well in school,” she said evenly. “We have done research, have helped him get through his first heat. If we were going to sell him, we wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of doing adoption or putting him in school.”

Something flickered in the male’s eyes as he nodded slowly and splayed his fingers on the table. Cassian leaned forward and rested on his elbows. “He has nothing to give you,” Cassian said with a lethal calm. “He’s a ten year old. He can give you  _nothing_.”

An eerie small smile tilted up on David’s lips and he said nothing. A low growl sat in Aelin’s throat and she leaned forward, her golden hair brushing at her shoulders. “We could take this to court,” she purred, those gold rimmed eyes glinting. “I could put all the effort I have into finding every shred of evidence that makes you an unfit parent. I don’t think you want me snooping in your affairs. David.”

The male didn’t so much as blink.

 _Or_ ,” Aelin said lightly, pushing a pen forward, “we could get this all out of the way at once. You sign these forms and give my clients the right to adopt Baylor Perditus.”

Nesta didn’t miss the undercurrent of a simmering rage in the female’s words. Aelin’s eyes nearly glowed, as if she were seconds away from reducing everything to ash.

David made no move towards the pen as he flicked his eyes to Cassian. “I spent the last ten years with that boy. Raising him, feeding him. I could have turned him out on the streets. I could have made a fortune on the market for him.”

David picked at his nails carefully. “Less than three hundred healthy, unbonded male omegas in this world, officer. And with those freckles and that blushing he has, I bet I’d get top dollar for him. He’ll make  _beautiful_ pups.”

“Keep incriminating yourself,” Cassian said evenly.

David cocked his head. But it was his lawyer who cleared his throat.  “It’s not against the law to speculate, officer.”

Cassian gave the male a death glare and she could see his fingers curling tightly beneath the table in effort to not lose his temper and snap David’s neck.

Nesta’s own skin crawled. “There is something very wrong with you,” she said evenly. “Both of you.” The lawyer didn’t say a word and David shifted his eyes to her, searching her face far too thoroughly.

“And why do you want my son?” he asked in a low voice. “Can you not have children of your own? Or do you just feel sorry for Baylor.”

Cassian growled and Nesta put her hand on his knee. As much as she would love for him to reach over and tear his throat out, this was what David wanted. “What will it take for you to sign away your rights. Money? Talking to the DA for a shorter sentence? What do you  _want_.”

David leaned back in his chair and he smiled mildly. “What do I want? I want to talk to my son. My flesh and blood. I want to talk to him face to face. And  _alone_.”

Bay’s all too gaunt face flashed in her mind. Those wide searching eyes that were looking for every exit. The fear she smelled on him.

“Absolutely  _not_ ,” She said coldly.

“ _No_ ,” Cassian growled at the same time.

Not a flicker of surprise showed in the male’s eyes as he rolled the pen between his fingers. “You want my signature, you want my  _boy_ ,” he said conversationally. “You give me what I want. Y’all can stay in the observation room and watch if you want. But it’ll just be me and him in this room. Otherwise,” his smile grew a fraction. “I’m not signing shit.”

David shifted his attention to the two way mirror and hollered , “I’m ready to go back to my cell.”

Seconds later the door opened to show two cops and Azriel behind them. The cops ushered forward, one took out a set of keys. “You know the drill,” the cop said gruffly. “Hands on the table.”

David complied and the cop uncuffed his restraints from the table and back around his wrists as the other yanked David to his feet and ushered him to the door. David looked over his shoulder at Cassian and smiled, “It was  _nice_ seeing you again, officer.”

Cassian snarled and David was pushed out of the room.

Nesta whipped around to Aelin and said, “What can we do.”

Aelin’s gaze was fixed on the threshold of the interrogation room. Her eyes were simmering and she let out a slow breath and looked at her. “Have there been any formal charges of child endangerment or child abuse? Has Bay said anything about his father hurting him in any way whatsoever?”

Cassian sighed raggedly and ran his hand through his hair. “He said ‘he shouldn’t have touched me’ but other than that, Bay hasn’t said one word against David. No charges have been brought against him, none that would stick. The DA said it would be Bay’s word against his.”

Aelin sighed through her nose. “The case wouldn’t even make it in front of a jury unless Bay were willing to testify. And I’m guessing he won’t?” Nesta shook her head and Aelin said, “The ball’s in Bay’s court. If he agrees to David’s terms then we can go on from there. From this point onward,” Aelin said, shifting her eyes to her and Cassian. “I’m taking this case pro bono. I’ll do everything in my power to keep Bay out of his hands.”

Cassian scratched his head as Azriel leaned against the doorframe. “Better head out. School gets out in half an hour and you’re going to have to convince that kid to meet with the source of his nightmares.”

* * *

Bay followed Nate and Ash down the stairs of the school and out to the parking lot. Nate had their hands laced together as they shouldered through the throng of students. Bay’s eyes locked on the silver car parked next to Blake’s jeep.

Both Nesta and Cassian were waiting for them. His omega stirred, picking up unrest from the couple, and Nate tugged Bay close and threw an arm around his shoulder as he frowned at Cassian. “What’s going on? Three days in a row, coming to pick us up? Do you have nothing better to do?”

Nate said it so lightly, but it warred against the dark expression on the male’s face. Cassian merely arched a brow. “I wanted to pick my kid up from school. You got a problem with that, Nathaniel?”

Nate wrinkled his nose and Ash sighed and stalked forward and clasped the handle to the backseat door. “Come  _on_. I don’t want to miss my cartoons because you guys had to get all alpha-y over Bay.”

Bay blushed.

“Nate,” Cassian said firmly. “You need to go home with Blake today. We need to talk to Bay. Ash, you too. Go with Blake.”

Nate growled and Nesta’s eyes narrowed, “Ash, go with Blake. Nate, get in the car. The  _second_ you misbehave you will go home too.”

Nate beamed.

“Unfair,” Ash sulked, stalking over to Blake’s jeep. “I behave like the perfect child I am and I get shoved over with Blake while Nate just growls and gets to keep Bay. No justice.”

Bay snorted.

“Hold up,” a voice said.

Bay looked over his shoulder to see Blake coming up to them. The alpha held up a hand and pointed at Ash. “He’s not one of mine. I don’t remember agreeing to take home the ginger.” Ash whispered a string of foul words under his breath and Blake arched a brow. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“Not if I can help it,” Ash muttered, yanking open the back door to the jeep and shuffling up inside and slamming the door shut.

Bay watched him sulk into the leather seat and fold his arms over his chest through the window. Nate tugged Bay over to the back of the car and got in and nearly pulled him in with him. He was flesh up against Nate as the alpha reached over and shut the door.

He got the distinct impression that Nate was trying to protect him from something by keeping him up against him, that maybe his proximity would keep threats away.

They listened to the muffled voices of Cassian and Nesta and Blake. Cassian dug out his wallet and placed money in Blake’s hand. Blake grinned and tapped two fingers to his temple in salute as he whirled around to get into his Jeep.

Nesta and Cassian looked at each other briefly before both climbing into the car. Nesta started the ignition while Cassian looked over his shoulder at them. “How was school? Did you tell Ms. James about track?”

Bay nodded. “Yeah. She said she’d talk to you about the physical?”

“Good,” Cassian said, his grin not quite reaching his eyes. “Let’s go home.”

Bay rested his head on Nate’s shoulder while Nesta pulled out of the school parking lot. Silence stretched around them while Nesta drove the twenty minutes to the house. The second the car was in park, Nate had the door open and was yanking him up into the house.

Nate bounced on the balls of his heels and said impatiently, “Come on, come  _on_. I want food.”

Bay frowned at him. “You  _just_ had lunch, though?”

Nate flicked his nose. “Hush. I’m hungry.”

As soon as Nesta had the front door unlocked, Nate pulled Bay into the house and through the living room and into the kitchen. Bay waited beside Nate as the alpha rummaged for food in the fridge before grabbing two apples.

Nate put one in his hand as they went to sit at the counter, waiting for Cassian and Nesta to come in. Bay took a small bite of the green apple while Nate took a chunk out of his. “Feyre busted me in art,” he said between bites. “I had to put the good paint back with the others. I have to share,” he shuddered.

Bay snorted and gnawed at his apple.  “You have two brothers, Nathaniel. You’d think you would know how to share by now.”

Nate wrinkled his nose and poked Bay in the side. “I know how to share. I just don’t like it. Sharing you with Ash is hard enough.” Bay blushed and Nate took another bite of his apple. “Now they go after my paint. We live in dark times Baylor,” Nate said dramatically. “Dark times.”

Bay nearly rolled his eyes at him when Nesta and Cassian came into the room and claimed the seats across from them. The air drew taut from the tension pouring off the couple and his omega stood at attention. “What is it?” Bay said cautiously.

Nate scooted closer to him as Nesta and Cassian exchanged glances. It was Cassian who leaned forward on his elbows, his hazel-gold eyes bright. “You know that no matter what, you are a part of our family, yeah? We don’t need a piece of paper to say otherwise.”

Bay narrowed his eyes and studied the sincerity of Cassian’s face and the indifference of Nesta’s. Next to him, Nate took his hand and said firmly, “He’s staying.”

Cassian nodded, his eyes still on Bay. “We went to see David today.”

Bay’s blood froze and Nate squeezed his hand as Bay swallowed thickly. “He won’t do it, will he?” Bay asked ruefully. “He likes doing that. Dangling things in front of you and yanking them back.” It was a power move.

Nate growled quietly.

Nesta sighed through her nose. “Not exactly.” Bay arched a brow and Nesta said, “He said he’d do it but first, first he wants to see you. He wants to talk to you alone.”

“ _What_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COmments and kudos are loved XO


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate frowned at him. “You don’t need to though. No one should have to be alone. It’s what friends are for.”
> 
> Bay sighed and got to his feet. “Nate. I’ve made it the last ten years alone, I can make it a few more days. It’s no big deal.”
> 
> “Baylor.” Nate pushed.
> 
> He didn’t miss the edge in the alpha’s voice.
> 
> “Nathaniel,” Bay snapped, grabbing the alpha’s arms. “Stop. Okay? I- I’ll be okay. It’s a freaking police station and- and he’ll be handcuffed to the table and he won’t be able to touch me.”
> 
> Nate’s lips tightened and somehow those eyes grew darker. Bay’s omega wanted to cower and Bay forced himself to hold the alpha’s eye contact. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Nate demanded. “I can protect you from him.”
> 
> “You?” Bay said in a dead calm. “You’re thirteen. He’s a grown up who can’t even be stopped by other grown ups. Don’t. Come. With. Me.” Nate went to argue and Bay clamped the male’s mouth with his hand. “You try and I will never forgive you.”

Bay had spent the last two days struggling with his decision. Nate had growled when Nesta and Cassian told him what his father wanted from him. Nate had snarled ‘ _no_ ’ and had pulled Bay into him, almost as if he were trying to meld him into his skin. **  
**

Nesta had threatened Nate with forcing him to go home if he hadn’t calmed down. Bay didn’t know what to do with protection that Nate seemed to offer him without so much as a second thought. But either way, he didn’t mind.

But in the end, he needed to do this. He needed to confront his father even if his omega was screaming at him not to do it. He was tired of playing by his games, he was tired of being afraid. He wanted Nesta and Cassian, not  _him_.

Bay let out a slow breath as he slipped on his shoes. He tried ignoring the pout as Nate whined for the upteinth time, “Baylor, please let me  _come_.”

Bay slipped his eyes to the alpha and sighed through his nose. As much as he wanted Nate to come, if only so he had something to lean against. Or hide behind, if he were going to be honest. “No,” Bay said firmly, barely keeping the tremble out of his voice. “I need to go alone.”

Nate frowned at him. “You don’t need to though. No one should have to be alone. It’s what friends are  _for_.”

Bay sighed and got to his feet. “Nate. I’ve made it the last ten years alone, I can make it a few more days. It’s no big deal.”

“ _Baylor_.” Nate pushed.

He didn’t miss the edge in the alpha’s voice.

“ _Nathaniel_ ,” Bay snapped, grabbing the alpha’s arms. “Stop. Okay? I- I’ll be okay. It’s a freaking police station and- and he’ll be handcuffed to the table and he won’t be able to touch me.”

Nate’s lips tightened and somehow those eyes grew darker. Bay’s omega wanted to cower and Bay forced himself to hold the alpha’s eye contact. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Nate demanded. “I can protect you from him.”

“ _You_?” Bay said in a dead calm. “You’re  _thirteen_. He’s a grown up who can’t even be stopped by other grown ups. Don’t. Come. With. Me.” Nate went to argue and Bay clamped the male’s mouth with his hand. “You try and I will  _never_ forgive you.”

He didn’t want Nate to see his father. He didn’t want his best friend to see the reason he was so messed up. He didn’t want Nate to come to the rescue and try to protect him. He just needed this to be done and over and forgotten.

His skin prickled as the alpha growled low in his throat. Nate tore away from him and stalked over to the couch and sunk down into the cushions. “ _Fine_.”

 _I’m sorry,_  was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it and grabbed his coat. He had it on and his bag on his shoulders when Blake came in from the kitchen and looked between him and Nate with raised brows. “Lover’s quarrel?”

Nate shot his brother a poisonous glare as he got to his feet and grabbed his bag at the door. “Shut your freaking face and make yourself useful and take us to school.”

Blake hummed happily as a knowing smile tilted up on his lips. Cassian and Nesta came into the room, both with wound shoulders as Cassian gave Bay a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He knelt in front of Bay and straightened his tie. Bay batted his hand out of the way and mumbled, “My tie is  _fine_.”

Cassian snorted and clasped Bay’s shoulder. “I’ll see you after school, yeah? We’ll come pick you up and go to the police station from there.”

Bay nodded silently and before Bay could say another word, Nate pulled Bay out the door to the jeep parked on the street. Bay threw his bag in the backseat while scrambling up into the vehicle. Nate slipped in right beside him.

They both peered out the window, watching Blake fold his arms over his chest as he talked to Cassian and Nesta. Bay poked Nate’s thigh. “Where’s Adrien?”

Nate shrugged fluidly. “No idea. I think he’s with Deanna? Or whatever her name is?” Nate’s face scrunched up. “I think Mom said something about them, you know, mating. I think Adrien bit her and, yeah.”

Heat seared Bay’s cheeks and ears. “Gross.”

“Mhmm,” Nate shuddered. “Girls are  _disgusting_.”

Blake stormed through the melting snow and climbed in the driver’s seat and looked back at them. “You two look cozy.”

Nate kicked the back of Blake’s seat. “ _Drive_. I need to get to the art room, stat.”

Blake narrowed his brows and pointed at his brother. “You kick my seat again and I’m going to strap your butt to the roof. Understand, Brat?”

Bay hid his smile as Nate stuck out his tongue at his brother. “You wouldn’t dare. I’m Mom’s favorite.”

Blake shook his head and turned around and started the car. The elder alpha turned on the radio and Bay smothered a yawn with the back of his hand. He didn’t get to have any coffee that morning and now he can barely keep his eyes open. He rested his head on Nate’s shoulder and closed his eyes as Blake began driving.

* * *

Nate coasted through the school hallways with Baylor’s hand in his. They shouldered through the throng of people in vain attempt to get to the art room. When they finally reached it, Nate peered inside and let out a breath. Empty.

Nate quickly yanked Baylor into the room with him and went straight for the paint. He made a choked sound in his throat at the dried paint crusting around the lids of the different colored bottles, at the disarray of his beloved paint.

“What a  _disgrace_ ,” Nate said sadly. “These bastards. They come in,” Nate growled, plucking the paint from the shelf, “and think because it’s a private school and that all their parents are rich that they can treat art supplies like  _this_. I won’t stand for it.”

Baylor sighed and helped him gather all the bottles and take them to the counter by the sink to wash. The omega stood quietly, wiping paint off the bottes with a lathered rag. Nate kept side-glancing him, watching the omega’s freckled face turn thoughtful.

But those light eyes, they were beyond troubled.

And he didn’t know what to do about it.

So Nate bit back his sigh and continued washing off the paint until each bottle looked brand new. Nate heard a someone clearing their throat behind him and he turned to see his aunt standing at the doorway. “You know the rules, Nate,” she said sternly. “You aren’t allowed in here unsupervised.”

“But look at all of these,” he whined. “The heathens you call students are destroying good and valuable paint.” He caught a flash of a small smile tilt up on Baylor’s lips and the omega turn away to hide it. Nate frowned. “What. It’s true.”

Baylor snorted and began taking the clean bottles back to the shelves. “You’re so dramatic. Don’t you have an off switch?”

Nate could have sworn he heard a cough from his aunt. He ignored that particular sound and grabbed the rest of the bottles and put them up on the shelf before nipping Baylor’s shoulder. “Hush. When you’re as pretty as I am, you’re allowed to be a little dramatic.”

Baylor’s ears turned red as he shook his head and got to his toes, slipping the bottles up on one of the lower shelves. Nate turned to his aunt and put his hands on his hips. “There. Now we’ll leave.”

Nate took the omega’s hand and pulled him out of the room.

* * *

Bay spent the next very long, very tortuous eight hours thinking of nothing but his father. He barely heard a word in any of his classes or tasted any food at lunch. The only thing he managed to do correctly, was in PE.  _Run_.

Bay put his books into his bag and shut the locker door. He smelled Nate behind him. Bay looked to see the alpha looking down at him, his dark brown eyes blown out and- was he pouting? Bay sighed through his nose and held out a hand. “I haven’t changed my mind.”

Nate grimaced and slipped their palms together, their fingers lacing, as the alpha tugged him through the throng of people and down the steps. Snow crunched beneath his feet as they padded to the parking lot. “I don’t see why I can’t come,” Nate grumbled.

Bay didn’t dignify that with a response and waited for the silver car to pull into the parking lot. Nate’s hand never left his for the five minutes they waited and as soon as Nesta pulled up, Nate had the backdoor open and both them pulled through.

Cassian looked over at them carefully, his lips thinned as he said, “You change your mind about him coming?”

Bay shot Nate a look and said, pointedly, “ _No_.”

“ _Please_ ,” he pleaded, those dark as night eyes bright. “I’ll stay outside. I’ll stay at my father’s desk. Just let me come.”

Bay blinked blankly at him. The desperation was plain as day on the male’s face, so open and caring and just worried. About him. Something in his chest swelled and Bay sighed through his nose. “Stay at the desk,” he relented. “Don’t come back.”

_I don’t want you to see him. I don’t want you to know who was responsible for making me such a mess. I don’t want you to see who I look exactly alike._

Nate beamed at him and his smile thawed the ice in Bay’s veins. The alpha pulled him close and Bay brought his legs up to his chest as the car pulled out of the parking lot. His omega was ready to crawl into a hole and never climb out. But he just rested his head on Nate’s shoulder until the police station came up.

Nesta parked the car and they all piled out into the thawing snow. The afternoon sun beat down on his face and he felt like every ray was made purposefully to make him boil. Nesta locked the door and Nate slipped his hand in his and tugged him to the police station.

Bay’s stomach twisted as he looked around them carefully. At the seat near the door, where he had been seconds to bolt. At the desk where Cassian had been hunched over, reading his file. At Azriel, who was looking up from his desk, his face carefully neutral as he looked them. The police chief’s brows dipped down a fraction as his eyes landed on Nate.

Azriel got up and came up to them, shoulders square and hands behind his back. Those hazel-gold eyes looked Bay over calmly before flicking to Nate. “I’m guessing you bullied your way here, hmm?” Nate scrunched up his nose and shrugged. Azriel sighed through his nose and said, “Your markers and sketchbook are where you left them, go at it.”

Nate gave his father a dazzling smile before nipping Bay on the shoulder. Bay’s cheeks warmed. “I’ll be at my dad’s desk,” he whispered. “Unless you want me to come?”

His eyes were bright with pleading, but the adults said at once, “ _No_.”

Nate’s shoulders slumped and he sulked over to the desk, whispering a string of foul words. Azriel frowned, but he turned his attention to Cassian and Nesta. “David has been in the interrogation room for the last thirty minutes.” He looked down at him. “You can still back out if you want.”

 _Yes_.

“No.” He barely kept the tremble out of that one word. Bay shoved his shaking hands in his pockets. “I just want to get this over with.”

Azriel nodded once and Bay felt Cassian’s fingers squeeze his shoulder in what he supposed was supposed to be comfort. He felt cold all over. Nate’s eyes snapped up from his father’s desk, his hand freezing. Bay ignored it and followed Azriel through the space to the interrogation rooms.

Cassian and Nesta were right behind him. They turned to him, Nesta’s face was carefully closed off and Cassian’s was pure intensity. Not a flicker of kindness was on either. Bay’s omega wanted him to turn around and do what he did best.

 _Run_.

He forced himself to take a breath and then another and another and turn to the two-way mirror. He could see his father, with those broad hands handcuffed to the table, his long fingers clicking on the smooth reflective surface.

His mouth went dry and Bay forced himself to take another breath and to curl his fingers around the doorknob. His father’s head snapped up, a small smile spreading his lips, as Bay came into the room and sat in the chair across from him.

HIs father’s eyes, his eyes, were empty, cold. Bay fought his growing shudder as he clasped his hands and put them in his lap. The only sound was the click click clicking of David Odium’s nails. “Baylor.” Bay jumped at the mild tone of his father’s rough voice.

He could almost see Cassian and Nesta in the other room, with their faces like cold death. Bay forced his eyes up from his lap to the male in front of him. That orange really did not go well with his coloring. “Hello, Father,” Bay said, quietly.

David Odium leaned forward and rested on his elbows, his hair brushing his shoulders. “You seem well enough,” he murmured, flicking his gaze over him carefully. Bay tried to not squirm beneath those piercing eyes. “I hear you had your heat.”

Bay’s face warmed and he set his jaw. His omega curled in on itself, wanting to hide. David was handcuffed to the table, he was handcuffed to the table, he was handcuffed to the-

“Yes.”

David’s lips twitched and he leaned back in his seat. “You know,” he said casually, after a long moment, “when my wife was pregnant with you, she was so thrilled. She had always wanted a pup of her own. She claimed the horrible morning sickness was going to be worth it. It was going to be worth holding you in her arms. Of course, she didn’t get to do that, though. Bleed out on the table.”

He looked down at his hands. They were shaking, his knuckles were white. Bay clenched his teeth. “It’s not my fault,” Bay whispered. “It- It’s not my  _fault_ ,” he said a bit louder, forcing himself to look up at the male in front of him. “I was just a baby.”

His father’s gaze darkened and a growl loosed from behind those lips. Bay went rigid. “Have you gotten a backbone in the last month, little omega?” David purred, his fingers splaying the table. “Playing house with a  _police officer_.” Bay shrunk back at the growing frost in those hazel-green eyes.

Bay sucked in his lips swallowed the whimper that wanted to break out.

_I didn’t tell them anything. I didn’t tell them anything. I didn’t tell them anything._

His father cocked his head, his gaze growing amused. “And now you want him to be your new father, is that it? Want me to sign over my rights so you can make it a permanent deal. No matter what a piece of paper claims, you can’t change the blood in your veins. No matter what, it will always be  _mine_.”

“You hate me,” Bay said, in little more than a whisper. He whetted his words: sharp and unforgiving. “You  _hate_ me. Just- Let me go. Let me  _go_ and you won’t have to deal with me anymore.”

David gazed at him for a long moment. His fingers flexed, his lips twitched, his eyes pinning Bay in place.  _Alpha_. Bay’s omega whimpered. He swallowed the whine and held those eyes with his own. They stared each other down. Azriel said something over the speaker. Bay didn’t know what it was.

His father’s nostrils flared as he leaned forward. His father’s gaze flickered just a moment before a mild smile sat on his lips. “You’ve made a  _friend_.”

Bay’s blood ran cold and he bared his teeth at the male in front of him. A small growl tore from behind his teeth. All that fear, all that wanting to run and hide, all that disappeared at the thought of a threat to Nate. That mild smile grew.

Bay heard a scuffling and growling outside the door. Probably Azriel.

But his father merely shrugged. His eyes glittered. “Interesting,” was all he said. The ramming in his chest slowed back to it’s steady rhythm. “No matter how close you get with the cop and his bitch wife,” his father said slowly, “remember they are not your blood. Remember you have duties to your real family.”

Bay heard the unspoken words and he dipped his head into a slight nod. He hated himself so much at this point, at the thought of purposefully hiding the crimes the male in front of him had committed. But it was better than being dead. Or worse.

The door opened. He heard Azriel clear his throat. He could feel the tension in the room grow and thicken. If his father was in anyway worried, it did not show. “You’ve had your talk,” Azriel said, quiet as death. “It’s time to keep your word.”

His father kept his eyes on him, his head cocked, his fingers thrumming the table. Bay took a breath. And then another and another, all while keeping his father’s eye contact. He barely felt Cassian and Nesta coming up beside him, barely heard the low growls coming from them both. “I thought you said our family keeps our word,” Bay rasped, remembering the rambles from his father over the years. “Or was that just lie?”

A smile twitched on David’s lips. “Give me the papers.”

A blonde woman came into the room, a blonde woman who Bay could see had fire in her heart and in her veins. A click of her suitcase later, she had the papers out on the table and a pen sliding over to his father. His father grabbed the pen and looked over the papers defly, like he’s done it before, like he’d given away his own blood before.

With a final scrawl and initials, the mountainous weight on Bay’s shoulders disappeared and he nearly threw up. David’s eyes never left his, that smile never left his face. “We’ll meet again. Son,” he said, flicking his eyes up to Cassian. “Take the little bitch. I wash my hands of him. Finally.”

Cassian and Nesta’s snarls were dull roars in Bay’s ears. He didn’t so much as blink as he slipped off the seat and walked out of the room. He heard shuffling and snarls behind him, probably Cassian and Azriel and the other officers. He had heard worse, been called worse. It was nothing new and it didn’t hit a mark anymore. At least almost.

Other officers pushed past him, going back to the interrogation rooms. But Bay belined for Azriel’s desk, where Nate was waiting impatiently for him. Nate’s gaze snapped up to him and Nate was on his feet and shouldering his way up to him.

Nate didn’t say a word as he flicked those dark as night eyes over him and tugged him into a hug. Bay didn’t realize how much he was shaking until Nate’s steady arms were around him, his nose in Bay’s neck.

Bay closed his eyes, tears slipped onto his cheeks as he pressed his forehead against Nate’s shoulder and folded his arms between them. Apples and lavender enveloped his senses until there was nothing left but him and Nate.

The frenzying in his blood began to die down and he wanted to mold himself into Nate. He wanted to just melt into him and stay there forever. Nate nuzzled into him, nipping at him. He pulled apart and looked down at Bay, his impossibly kind features warm. A small smile tilted up on Nate’s lips.

He braced Bay’s face in his hands, brushing his calloused thumbs over his wet cheeks. Bay sniffled and dropped his head and Nate pulled him back into his arms. “You’re free,” Nate mumbled into Bay’s hair, squeezing him so tight he could fit all his shattered pieces together again.

He was free.

* * *

Nesta had crystal understanding. She had watched that boy stare down his father, stare down a male who had tormented him for so long. She had wanted to let Cassian loose to rip out the other alpha’s throat for talking to Bay that way. But she needed Cassian. Bay needed Cassian.

So she held him back, or rather a swarm of police officers, both beta and alpha alike, held him back. Aelin’s gold rimmed eyes had sparked, had been ready to burn everything to the ground. Azriel had barely held on by a thread as the officers uncuffed David and pulled him out of the room.

Her husband’s chest heaved, those hazel-gold eyes livid and simmering. Tears pricked behind her own eyes at the rush of blood freezing in her veins, at her curling her fingers into tight, shaking fists as she watched that male leave.

Cassian rested his hand on the small of her back and she could smell the pheromones in the air mix, making the room thick with ease. Aein was the first to break the silence. She flipped her golden hair over her shoulder and exhaled sharply. “Well,” she started. “I’m going to go get things rolling.” She flicked those gold rimmed eyes to them. “Your son is very brave.”

And then she turned on her heel and left.

Her words settled into Nesta’s heart and her throat tightened violently. Her son.  _Her_ son. Tears pricked behind her eyes and Nesta blinked rapidly and felt Cassian brush his thumb over her cheek. She looked up at her husband and mate, up at those warm eyes and small smile. “Let’s take our son home, yeah? I think he deserves a snow day.”

She felt herself nod and it took her a moment to say, “Yes.”

That was if the boy  _wanted_ a snow day.

Cassian slipped her hand into his and tugged them both out the doors and they found Bay with Nate at Azriel’s desk. Bay had his head tucked into Nate’s chest and his arms folded between them. Nate just held onto the pup as tight as he could, his eyes closed and forehead pressed to the top of Bay’s head.

The remaining officers in the room cast small glances at the boys but gave them a wide berth. She could see Nate’s shoulders wound and poised for a fight from where she was.The tension unwound when Nate lifted his eyes to them.

Nate whispered something to the omega and Bay nodded slightly before lacing their hands together and tugging him up to them. “It’s done? He gets to stay?”

Bay looked down at his toes, a brilliant flush rising up on his cheeks and into the tips of his ears. A small smile tipped up on to the boy’s lips, his fingers curling tighter around Nate’s.

Light lit up Cassian’s eyes as he knelt and brushed Bay’s hair from his eyes. Bay looked up at him and Cassian grinned. “Yeah. He gets to stay. You guys want to go get some ice cream?”

Nate perked up and Bay’s smile grew a fraction as he nodded his head. Cassian squeezed Bay’s shoulder and got up to his feet.

She watched Nate pull Bay through the police station. Cassian shook his head. “He better be careful,” he said dryly. “He’s going to end up tearing that poor boy’s arm out of its socket.”

Nesta snorted.

* * *

Nate opened the car door and climbed inside. He pulled Baylor into the car with him and reached over to shut the door. Baylor silently buckled into his seat and pulled his legs up to his chest and stared at the back of the driver’s seat.

He didn’t know how to help the omega other than be there for him. He didn’t know how to wipe that almost defeated look from Baylor’s eyes. That look of sadness and pain. Nate curled an arm around him and tugged him into him.

He slipped his pheromones around them. He knew the omega liked his scent, for whatever reason. A soft sigh came from Baylor as he curled into Nate. Cassian and Nesta were in the car within a few heartbeats, clicking their own seatbelts and Nesta pulling out of the parking lot.

The drive was in comfortable silence. He didn’t miss Nesta looking at them from the rearview mirror. Rita’s came into view and Baylor’s small smile returned, his eyes lighting up and he straightened in his seat, just a little.

“ICE CREAM,” Nate yelled.

He sensed Baylor’s slight flinch and nipped at the omega’s shoulder. Baylor’s cheeks reddened and he didn’t look at Nate as he unbuckled from the seat and slipped out of the car the moment it was parked. Nate huffed and followed after the omega.

Inside of Rita’s was nearly packed to the rim. It was loud and boisterous and contrasted so loudly against Baylor’s quiet nature. Cassian and Nesta came in behind them. His uncle rested a hand on Baylor’s shoulder and said, “Get whatever you want, Kid. You too, Nate.”

Nate slipped his hand in Baylor’s.”Oh I plan on it,” Nate said airly, curling their fingers together. “Milk you for all you’re worth.” Cassian snorted and Nate tugged the omega up to the counter and got on his toes to look inside. “What do you want, Baylor?” Nate asked, resting his hands on the clear visor.

He ordered his and Baylor quietly told the female behind the counter what he also wanted. Cassian and Nesta ordered while he took Baylor back to a free booth. Baylor slid into the booth and he sat next to him. The omega folded his hands in his lap as he stared at a spot on the table.

Nate’s heart dropped.

It was like Baylor reverted back to who he was when they met.

Too quiet. Too cold. Too  _sad_.

“If I ever see him I’m going to kill him,” Nate muttered, leaning back against the cushions.

Baylor’s head snapped up and he looked at him. His face had turned granite, his brows pinched together and jaw set. “You will do  _no_ such thing,” he said, harshly, his fingers digging into Nate’s arm. “Promise me you’ll stay away from him.”

Nate growled and Baylor’s gaze never wavered. Those piercing eyes bore into him, meeting and directing a challenge. A small growl was in Baylor’s throat, his nails digging into Nate’s flesh, almost cutting it. His alpha wanted to tear Baylor’s father’s throat out. With its teeth. But the omega- Baylor- rasped, “ _Promise_. Me.”

He help his gaze for a long heartbeat before relenting, “ _Fine_.”

Baylor kept looking until he was satisfied with Nate’s answer and then uncurled his death grip and rested his head on Nate’s shoulder. Nesta and Cassian were back with them, with ice cream in hand, not even a heartbeat later.

Cassian slipped their ice cream to them and Baylor silently began digging in, refusing to look at any of them. Cassian and Nesta quickly exchanged glances before the elder alpha leaned back against the booth and slung an arm around the back. “Soooo, track starts up in about a week. You ready?”

Baylor nodded and took a bite of his ice cream.

“Of course he is,” Nate said, hooking an arm around the omega’s shoulder. “We’ve been getting up at an ungodly hour to run. Why you couldn’t just be an artist like me, I’ll never understand,” he sighed. “But at least you’ll put on some muscle,” he poked him in the side, “instead of being so  _skinny_.”

A brilliant flush rose in Baylor’s cheeks as he squirmed out of Nate’s touch. “Stop it.”

Oh.

_Oh._

“You’re ticklish,” Nate said, squinting at him, “Aren’t you?”

Baylor slowly lifted his head and looked at him. “No.”

“You liar,” Nate grinned. “You’re tiiiicklish. Baylor is tiiiicklishhh.” Baylor grumbled under his breath and dug his spoon in his ice cream. “Hey!” Nate frowned, “That’s  _mine_.”

Baylor rose his brows and deliberately scooped a bigger chunk of ice cream and took a bite. “It’s your own fault for being a weirdo. Next time, just stop while you’re ahead.”

Nate gaped at him and Cassian burst out laughing. Even a small smile ghosted on Nesta’s lips as she took a drink from her mug. “You little midget,” Nate sighed. “You’re going to eat those words.”

“ _Actually_ ,” Baylor said, dryly, hooking a finger on the rim of Nate’s dish and scooting it in front of him, “I’m eating your ice cream.” Cassian and Nesta snorted.

A small grin tilted up on the omega’s lips. “You’re lucky you’re cute. Otherwise you’d never get away with this,” he retorted, pulling Baylor’s bowl towards himself. He caught a flash of Baylor’s ears turning a dark shade of crimson and he smiled to himself as he began digging in.

Cassian gave Nesta a knowing look and he leaned forward. “You can stay home from school tomorrow, if you want,” he said to Baylor.

Baylor’s head snapped up and he frowned. “Why would I want to do that?”

Cassian arched his brows and gave Bay a bemused smile. “Just thought you might want a Snow Day. You don’t have to not go though.”

Bay nodded. “I want to go. I like school.”

Nate sighed painfully. “And you call  _me_ the weirdo.” Baylor wrinkled his nose and turned that frown to him. “What kind of kid  _likes_ school? Although I shouldn’t be surprised,” Nate said, dramatically, tipping his head back against the cushions. “First you like reading and then you like running. You’re going to turn into Adrien and Blake, aren’t you. Blake likes school too but even  _he_ wouldn’t turn down a chance to ditch.”

“Yeah but you guys have always gone to school,” Baylor pointed out. “I just started and I’m sooo far behind everyone else. If I skip I’ll never catch up.” A faint approving smile ghosted on Nesta’s face, and Cassian’s.

Nate opened and closed his mouth. His cheeks warmed. “I never thought about that,” he murmured.

The omega squinted at him. “Are you blushing?”

Nate jot up. “ _Me_?” He asked, a hand to his chest. “Blush? I think not.”

A smile bloomed on Baylor’s face. “Sure you’re not. Liar.”

“Okay, now that’s just rude.”

Baylor’s brows arched. “I never  _claimed_ to be nice, Nathaniel.”

Nate frowned. “I guess I’ll just have to be nice for the both of us, Baylor.”

Baylor snorted and he began to dig back into his ice cream. Nate could only watch the omega with a thinly veiled amusement. Despite the omega’s rather prickly exterior and walls, Nate could tell he felt a lot. He didn’t expect someone so small to have such a loud presence, even if he didn’t talk all that much. But either way, he enjoyed watching him, listening to what he didn’t say.

Baylor may not speak as much as most, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have anything to say.

If one was willing to listen, they could hear those unspoken words.

* * *

Three hours and a full stomach later, Bay followed Nate through Nesta and Cassian’s house…. Through his house. Nate carried a pile of pillows and blankets down to the basement and Bay followed after him. Nate assembled the pillows together and pulled Bay down to settle in the middle with him.

Bay curled next to him as the cartoon started. He wasn’t sure what it was, his mind kept going back to his father. To those vacant eyes and mild smile. He only realized he was cold when Nate put a blanket around their shoulders and tugged him close.

He kept thinking about Nate’s words, those words he had whispered to himself at the diner. He kept thinking about the fear he felt, the fear of what his father would do to Nate if he ever got his hands on him. Someone as good as Nate should never have to know the pain of someone like him.

* * *

Hours later, a knock sounded at the door. Cassian got up and answered it to find Mor and Azriel waiting. He let them in and they gathered at the counter with a bottle of wine and glasses. Cassian settled next to Nesta while Mor padded through the room to what he assumed was down to the basement where they boys were. The two hadn’t left since they had gotten back.

Cassian poured himself a glass. “David get back to his hellhole,” he asked mildly.

A tick feathered in Azriel’s jaw, but he nodded. “That was a hell of a shiner you gave him. Was the extra week of suspension worth it?”

Cassian grinned sharply as Nesta snorted. “I think so, yeah.”

* * *

Mor carefully went downstairs. A cartoon title screen was playing on repeat, but her eyes went to the lump of pillows and blankets and the two little boys huddled together, passed out. Mor went up and knelt in front of them.

Nate had his face buried in Bay’s neck. A small purr was in the omega’s throat, his head tucked into Nate, his arms folded between them. She almost reached over to brush Nate’s hair out of his face, but she didn’t want to wake them.

Azriel had told her about the boys being at the police station, had told her about Nate wiggling his way into coming with them. It was probably smart, to have him come. Risky too. Heaven knew alphas could be unpredictable when it came to their mate being threatened.

Mor righted herself and headed back upstairs. A small smile ghosted her husband’s lips as he took a drink from the glass in front of him. She settled next to him and poured herself a glass of wine when Cassian rested his chin on his palm. “They asleep?”

“Very,” Mor said, taking a sip from her glass. “They’re like little octopi down there, all tangled against each other.”

Cassian snorted. “It’s been a long day. They didn’t even come upstairs for supper. I went down to get them a few hours ago but they’re dead to the world.” He traced a finger on the top of the wine glass. “You’d think the male would know better than to antagonize a ten-year-old when he knew we were just outside the room.”

An involuntary shudder cracked through her. Azriel’s hand slipped to the small of her back as she tried blocking out her own father. “So,” she said, forcefully, “Where’re we at with the adoption? Now that that male gave up his rights?”

There was such a bright light in Cassian’s eyes, such a warmth and happiness. “The process is started. Just got a few classes to go to and then it’ll be finalized.” Nesta’s eyes glittered, though nothing else showed. “Speaking of kids, how’s Adrien holding up? Last I saw him, he was pretty pale.”

Mor choked on her wine and nearly spewed it across the table. Azriel clapped her back. “He and his girlfriend are at the cabin. I haven’t seen or heard from him in three days,” she pouted, dropping her chin on her hand. “And I haven’t even met the girl.  _How_ am I supposed to know she’s worthy of my son if he’s going out of his way to hide her from meee.”

Cassian snorted and she she threw her hands up. “I’m  _serious_ , Cassian! All my babies are growing up. Blake’s going off to be in the military and Adrien has a mate and now Nate has one too. My boys just need to stop growing. I’m going to grow prematurely gray if this keeps up.”

A faint smile tipped up on Azriel’s lips. Cassian just shook his head. “Never a dull moment, Morrigan.”

She sunk into her chair. “Oh hush up. You’re going to feel my pain, Cassian,” she warmed. “That boy is going to carve your heart out and you’ll thank him.”

* * *

Azriel listened quietly to his wife and Cassian talk. He had told her many things about what had happened with the boys at the precinct. He thought about Nate coming into the building with Bay’s hand laced with his. He thought about how Bay had been glued to his side and yet- and yet the omega refused to let Nate anywhere near David Odium.

He had scented the pure fear on the boy and yet he went into that room and sat and not only took what David said to him, he bit back. Despite that fear, despite that self-loathing he scented, Bay bit back.

Cassian took a drink from his glass and said, “We told Bay he could stay home tomorrow. He won’t.”

Azriel arched a brow. “The kid has barely been going to school for two months, Cass. You that surprised?”

Cassian snorted. “No, not particularly. He wants to catch up to his classmates and he thinks missing school would hinder that. Nate seemed to be shocked Bay wouldn’t skip school.”

“Please,” Mor said. “We all know Nate only goes to school because of Art class to make sure the students don’t destroy the supplies.  _That_ ,” she gave them a wry grin, “and he thinks its rude to deprive the school of his presence.”

“No idea where he gets that from,” Cassian said, giving Mor a pointed look. Nesta hid her small smile behind her glass. “That boy has more drama in his blood than Rhys and that, is seriously saying something.”

Mor burst out laughing. “Feyre told me that Nate snuck into the art room before school with Bay to clean the paint bottles.”

“Again?” Cassian asked.

“He’s so salty about the treatment of the art supplies,” she said. “I’m just waiting for him to just hide it all again and put back the bad paint. He’s petty enough. A few months ago he went on a tirade after school about finding a bottle of paint spilled on the ground in art class. He ended up having detention for yelling at his classmate for ruining a bottle of ‘paint that does not deserve your horrendous treatment’. Feyre said she had to hold back her laugh at the look of exasperation on Nate’s face. He took the paint and wiped it across the kid’s face and said, ‘There at least now its not  _wasted_.’”

Cassian laughed and Azriel said, “Don’t encourage him. He’s dramatic enough without your ass making it worse.”

Cassian stuck out his tongue and Mor said, “I have a feeling Bay is just as dramatic. If not more so.” She shook her head, grinning. “It’s always the quiet ones. Nate’s just a little peacock that loves the attention.”

Nesta made a sound in her throat. “He took Nate’s ice cream because Nate wouldn’t stop being dramatic.”

Mor stared at her. “You’re telling me  _Nate_ let Bay  _take_  his  _food,_  without maiming?”

“Mhmm,” Nesta hummed, taking a drink from her wine glass.

“I’m pretty sure Nate has tried to bite Blake when he tried to take a french fry off his plate,” Azriel said, dryly. “Lucky for Bay and his extremities, Nate is rather fond of him.”

Cassian’s eyes glittered. There was so much love for the omega in Cassian’s eyes, so much understanding as well. He wondered if Cassian’s own parents had terrorized him in their own ways, if the kid that Rhys took in had been just as ready to bolt as Bay had been. He wondered those few years before he met Cassian, what Cassian had been like.

He remembered his own father, his brothers. Those horrid people he had endured before being taking in by Rhys’s family. He hadn’t spoken to any of them since he was eight years old and he didn’t even plan to. And now Bay didn’t have to either.

* * *

Nate’s eyes fluttered open when he felt his shoulder lightly being shook. He blinked and squinted at his father knelt in front of them. His face was shrouded in shadows as he looked between him and Bay with a finger to his lips. Cassian was next to him.

He carefully uncurled from the Baylor, eliciting a small whine from the omega, and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and squinted up at the male before him.“Dad? What’re you doing here? What time is it?”

A small smile. “Late. I’ve barely seen you lately, kiddo. Just wanted to see you before I headed home.”

Nate carefully got up and hooked his arms around his father’s neck and buried his face against the alpha’s skin. He breathed in the rain and stone scent of his father, the grounding force that was Azriel Verrum. “Love you.”

He felt the strong arms of his father go around him and felt lips against his forehead. His father scooped him up as Cassian said, “Better get them upstairs. Don’t want to throw their backs out with these floors.”

Nate rested his head against his father’s shoulder and watched Cassian carefully pick Baylor up. The omega curled instinctively against Cassian, his purring never subsiding. Nate reached over for Baylor’s hand and held onto it as his father took him up the stairs and to Baylor’s room.

He didn’t bother changing into pajamas as he crawled up the bed and burrowed into the blankets. He had his eyes closed before he eve hit the pillows and felt his father’s thumb brush across his cheek as the bed dipped.

He forced his eyes open to see Cassian take Baylor’s glasses from his face and the omega curl onto his side. Nate tugged him close and buried his face in Baylor’s neck. He could feet the soft brush of a heartbeat against his lips. He barely registered his teeth aching, wanting to bite down on the omega’s throat. He settled for a nip.

His father kissed the top of his head. “Good night, Nathaniel.”

“‘Mmm, night,” Nate hummed.

“Good night, Son,” Cassian whispered, into Baylor’s hair.

Maybe he misheard it. Maybe he didn’t even hear it at all. But Baylor’s soft sigh sounded a lot like a, “‘Night Dad.”

But before Nate could call attention to it, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the next part!! Thank you for reading XO


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Adoption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those black eyes looked him over carefully and Bay held them stare for stare. Despite feeling like a bug about to be stepped on. The male arched a brow and he felt like he passed some kind of test as the male’s attention turned to Cassian. And shook his hand. “Cass.”
> 
> Cassian grinned at him. “Lorcan.” A small smile ghosted Lorcan’s lips and Cassian said, “This is my son, Bay.”
> 
> Lorcan looked back at him and Bay felt his face warm. He dipped his head and said, “Enjoy the game?”
> 
> Bay nodded. “It was amazing,” he said quietly.
> 
> “Bay wants to play hockey,” Cassian said, his fingers resting on Bay’s shoulder. “Think you could let an omega on the team?”
> 
> Lorcan’s eyes narrowed, filled with interest. “You want to play hockey? Have you even been on the ice? Been on a team of any kind?” His face warmed more but he refused to break eye contact, even as his omega stiffened beneath this alpha’s dark gaze. He shook his head once and Lorcan said, “I hope you don’t expect me to go easy on you because of what you are. Or the team for that matter.”
> 
> “I know how to take a beating,” Bay said, coolly, folding his arms over his chest, glaring at him. “I’m stronger than I look.”
> 
> For now.

Three weeks later, Adrien tugged Deanna into his room. He was thankful for his parents being  _gone_  though he knew he would soon have to introduce Deanna to them, to his  _mother_. Who was still hounding him for information on the female.

He had bitten her and because she was his mate, like he had thought, his body had turned on itself until he had mated with her. He managed to hold out for four days, had managed to get to know her as much as he could for those four days before she had demanded to know what the  _hell_ was wrong with him. Why he had been so pale, why he sounded like he had been in pain.

And when he told her, when he had given her the truth, which he would always do, she just said, “ _Oh_. Is that it?”

She hadn’t even blinked. Hadn’t even thought to think he might be lying to get her into bed. He had taken her to the cabin then and it had triggered a rut and he had spent the next five days with her. When he had gone home, his mother was up waiting for him. She had asked when she would meet her and he said, “Never, if I can help it.”

His mother had pouted and said, “We’ll see about that.”

* * *

Adrien pressed her into the wall and buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply. Rosewood and oranges, so contrasting with his own: smoke and rain. It settled into his bones, into his blood and Adrien barely felt her shrug off his leather jacket.

Her fingers brushed up beneath his shirt and around his back as he took her face into his hands and kissed her deeply. His heart was thunderous, his alpha content and slumbering for once in his sixteen years.

Adrien let her tug his shirt over his head and he felt his necklace burn cold against his flushed skin. It was so easy, to get lost here. So easy to forget about everything and everyone and all the reasons why life sucked.

He tugged her to his bed and she fell into the sheets with a laugh startling out of her. Adrien smiled down at her and he could get used to this sound, could bottle it right up and never be rid of it. The light in it, the quiet breathlessness to it and the way she sounded surprised each time.

Like laughter was a foreign concept to her.

It was easy, so easy to brush his hand down her chest, to bury his nose in her neck. And bite down. He barely sensed her fingers digging into his back, barely sensed her legs around him. All that was there was the bite, the claim, the complete feeling of  _his_.

His teeth sunk deeper.

* * *

Bay followed Cassian and Nesta through the crowd of people, with his hand in Nate’s. The alpha insisted on holding his hand in this massive swell of people and sounds. It hadn’t taken much for Bay to let him. It wasn’t like holding Nate’s hand was the worst thing in the world.

Far from it.

Nate tugged him closer as Cassian paid for the tickets and then took them to get food. Nate, of course, got nearly everything his hands could get ahold of. How the  _heck_  he can manage to get all that food down, Bay didn’t know.

But he cast that thought aside as he took a handful of popcorn into his mouth as Nate drug them to their seats next to the penalty box. These players were so… he didn’t even know. Tall, yes. But there was a raw power to these males, that Bay found fascinating.

They’d be able to handle anything.

And his fascination only grew at the game started. Nate reached over to take a handful of Bay’s popcorn and Bay snapped his teeth at him, his eyes never leaving the game. “Get your grubbing hands off my food. You have your own.”

Nate pouted and grumbled under his breath. But it was nothing but the smallest of whispers as Bay leaned forward and put a hand on the glass as he watched the careful maneuvering, the carnage of players slamming into each other, of them protecting each other. Of what they were capable of.

_I want to do that_.

* * *

Cassian watched Bay lean closer to the glass, watched Bay’s eyes grow big and round and completely mesmerized. The popcorn in Bay’s arms went forgotten as the omega watched the game unfold. Bay got up on his toes, trying his damndest to be able to see the game better.

Cassian felt himself start to smile as a player slammed into the wall and Bay jumped back. Only for a moment. Something bright and unrestrained shone in the omega’s eyes as he scrambled back to the divider. And pressed his forehead against the clear wall.

Bay stayed glued to the wall during the whole thing. His eyes never leaving the game. Nate and he did the best they could to answer the questions Bay asked and the omega seemed to drink in each and every rule and detail of the game.

And when it was over, Nate had Bay’s hand back in his as they shouldered their way back through the throng of people, stepping over discarded empty beer cups and wrappers.

Bay seemed to be in his own little world as they headed to the exits when the coach appeared by the doors. Bay stopped, eyes snapping onto Lorcan Salvaterre. Adrien’s coach.

Cassian turned to him. “Do you want to talk to him?”

Bay’s cheeks turned pink. He tore his eyes away and to him. “Can I do that?” He asked.

“Talk to him or play hockey?” Bay’s cheeks darkened and he started fidgeting. Nate’s eyes glittered. “If you want to play,” Cassian said, giving Bay a smile. “I’ll make it happen.”

“I can’t skate though,” he said quietly. “And I’m an omega.”

Omegas being in contact sports was often unheard of, especially male omegas; seeing as how they’re so rare. Most don’t want to risk their alphas or the omega’s reproductive abilities.

But Bay’s face. If the omega wanted to play, then he was damn well going to find a way to have him play. Especially since he knew Lorcan personally. He wouldn’t go easy on Bay, but, he’d give him a chance.

Cassian knelt, grasped Bay’s shoulder. “So what. You’ll just have to work a bit harder to catch up, but, it’ll be worth it.” A small smile tilted up on Bay’s face and he nodded. “Alright, Kid. Let’s go talk to him. Maybe he’ll be in a decent mood for once.”

* * *

Bay followed Cassian over to the hockey coach. He never felt so short in his entire life compared to this male. He had to be nearly seven feet tall and here he was barely breaking past  _four feet._ Bay forced the blush down when the male turned from a female to Cassian. And then him.

Those black eyes looked him over carefully and Bay held them stare for stare. Despite feeling like a bug about to be stepped on. The male arched a brow and he felt like he passed some kind of test as the male’s attention turned to Cassian. And shook his hand. “Cass.”

Cassian grinned at him. “Lorcan.” A small smile ghosted Lorcan’s lips and Cassian said, “This is my son, Bay.”

Lorcan looked back at him and Bay felt his face warm. He dipped his head and said, “Enjoy the game?”

Bay nodded. “It was amazing,” he said quietly.

“Bay wants to play hockey,” Cassian said, his fingers resting on Bay’s shoulder. “Think you could let an omega on the team?”

Lorcan’s eyes narrowed, filled with interest. “You want to play hockey? Have you even been on the ice? Been on a team of any kind?” His face warmed more but he refused to break eye contact, even as his omega stiffened beneath this alpha’s dark gaze. He shook his head once and Lorcan said, “I hope you don’t expect me to go easy on you because of what you are. Or the team for that matter.”

“I know how to take a beating,” Bay said, coolly, folding his arms over his chest, glaring at him. “I’m stronger than I look.”

For now.

Lorcan merely arched a brow as he studied him for a heartbeat. And then another. Before turning to Cassian. Lorcan’s arms folded and he nodded once. “Practices are on Tuesday and Thursday. I want to see him in the rink every night until I think he’s caught up with the other boys.” He cut Bay a look. “They’ve been on the ice since they were walking. Think you can handle the extra practice, omega?”

Bay bristled. “Yes,” he bit out. “I can.”

He gave Bay a smile. It wasn’t a kind one, either. It was sharp, near feral. Bay’s eyes snapped on the alpha’s elongated canines. He stopped himself from stepping back.“We’ll see,” Lorcan said.

He felt Nate step closer to him, could almost see Nate giving Lorcan a death glare from the corner of his eye. Bay didn’t look at him, he kept his eyes on Lorcan. The smile grew a fraction and Lorcan said, “I better see you tomorrow evening. Eight o'clock sharp. Be prepared to get bruised.” He looked back at Cassian. “I’ll give him a chance. Don’t make me regret it, Cassian.”

* * *

Mor left the office rather late and drove home. She was three feet inside the house before she even realized she wasn’t home alone. Az was working a double and Blake was at the base. Nate was with Cassian and Bay. Which only left-

She quietly shut the door behind her before she started walking through the house and stopped in front of her son’s room.

The door was cracked and she could smell Adrien inside the room. And he wasn’t alone. She carefully pushed open the door to see her son strewn across his bed, sleeping nearly on top of a female. His head rested on her chest, his face was smooth, soft. Almost like the little boy he used to be.

Both of them were shirtless, though the girl had a bra on and they both had jeans on. Mor’s eyes went to the thick scar curving around Adrien’s side. Her heart hardened, her throat tightened. He had been in the hospital for so long, nearly gotten himself killed with those damn motorbikes.

Mor quietly turned around and went back downstairs to the living room.

She was not going to let that boy sneak her out.

_Again_.

* * *

 

Adrien groaned as he felt someone shake him awake. Deanna’s fingers tugged at his hair and he mumbled, “Five more minutes.”

He felt Deanna’s chest rumble beneath his, felt her laugh in his bones. Adrien barely registered himself leaning up, barely registered himself brushing his lips against her throat and sinking his teeth into her throat.

He groaned as blood coated the inside of his mouth, as Deanna groaned beneath him. “Adrien,” she said grumpily, “I have to goooo. My dad-”

A growl was in his throat before he could stop it. But he forced himself to stop acting like an ass and roll off her. He sat at the edge of his bed, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head as she grabbed her own.

“You don’t need to come,” she said, her startling eyes going to him. “I’ve walked home by myself plenty of times.”

Adrien stood. “I don’t think so,” he said, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip. “If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Surprise rose in her scent as she looked up at him. He met her gaze solemnly and she reached up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. He couldn’t help himself from pushing back into it, from hooking his fingers into her hips.

But then she pulled back and said, “Let’s go before your parents get home.”

Adrien smiled at her.

They were halfway to the front door when the light went on by the couch and Adrien froze. Deanna stopped next to him and he turned to see his mother waiting with a mug of tea. “Hello,” she said, far too brightly for this time of night. “You must be Deanna. You are very pretty, my dear.”

Deanna blinked blankly at his mother. “Thank you?”

His mother studied Deanna for a long moment, brushing a finger along the rim of the mug of tea. Deanna, to his delight, didn’t break eye contact with Morrigan, her face smoothed over, not revealing anything. Deanna’s fingers hooked at his side and his mother watched intensely. “Are you two being careful?” she asked lightly, taking a drink from her mug.

Adrien stared at her. “ _MOM_.”

She batted a hand at him, “Hush. I’m talking to your girlfriend.”

Adrien glared at her and Deanna dipped her head, “Yes, Ma'am. We are. And,” She said quietly, firmly, “I accept your son as my mate.” He tore his eyes from his mother and stared at her. Deanna looked up at him. “What?”

“AWE,” his mother said, loudly. Adrien dropped his head and groaned. His mother took another drink from her mug and said, “So, Deanna. How did you two meet?”

“At a party,” Deanna said.

“ _Mom_ ,” Adrien growled. His mother arched a brow and gave him that look that said if he didn’t drop the tone he’d be grounded for a week. He snapped his mouth shut and sighed through his nose. He counted to ten. And then to twenty. “She has to get home,” he said, trying like hell to keep his frustration out of his voice.

But before his mother could respond the door opened and revealed his father in his uniform. Adrien closed his eyes and stopped himself from face palming.

Of course. Of  _course_ his father would  _show the fuck up_.

_Kill me_.

Azriel Verrum looked from him to Deanna to his mother with a smoothed out face before slipping back to rest on Deanna. Then back to him.  _Let us go for the love of all things good._  His father arched a brow. “It’s past midnight, you two.”

“ _I know_ ,” Adrien said. “We’ve been trying to leave for the last ten minutes.”

His father’s lips twitched. “And where are  _you_ going?” he asked, quietly, arms folding.

“I’m walking her home,” he said. “And then I’m coming back and going to bed. I have hockey practice tomorrow morning.”

Approval gleamed in his father’s eyes and he dipped his head into a nod and stepped away from the door.  _Finally_. He had made two steps when his mother cleared her throat. He stopped. Sighed. Turned his head. His mother smiled at Deanna. “You’re welcome to dinner tomorrow.”

Deanna smiled at her.  _Smiled_. “Thank you, Mrs. Verrum.”

“Please, call me Mor.”

* * *

They walked down the street in silence, Adrien’s hand laced with hers, as the winter wind brushed her hair out of her face. She replayed the day over in her head, the feeling of Adrien’s body on her’s, of his teeth in her throat. It had been… she didn’t even know.

She had seen him play hockey, had watched him race. She had seen him at a million parties but never approached him. He had never drinked, barely talked to anyone as he stood by the wall watching the chao unfold. He had seemed unapproachable, just as cold as herself, but.

But his ice seemed to thaw when he looked at her. The harsh lines of his face smoothed when she looked back at him and he was her  _mate_. She could barely piece it together and his mother- he was nothing like his mother but she could see the love there. It was sweet.

Adrien looked up at the sky, his thumb brushing her hand. She nudged him. “Your mom seems nice.”

He groaned so painfully, his head falling back as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Don’t encourage her. She’s a nightmare.”

As exasperated as his words were, there was such a fondness lying beneath them. Deanna snorted and Adrien kissed her knuckles as they finally stopped at her house. Her heart dropped like a stone at the lights on in the window. Either her parents were up waiting for her or they were up fighting.

Adrien studied her quietly and she waited for him to bring it up, to say something, but he merely clasped her face and kissed her deeply. She buried her fingers in his leather jacket and something in her chest thawed and remade itself.

She forced herself to pull back and look up at him. “Good night, Adrien.”

The sheer intensity of his gaze could strip a person bare. It made her blood heat. The smallest smile tilted up on his lips and he said, “Good night, Deanna.”

* * *

The next morning was Saturday and Bay was awake before the sun had a chance to peek through the window. He wiggled out of beneath Nate’s arm and off the bed. He heard Nate whine and burrow back into the bed as he went to grab a set of clothes and pad off to the bathroom.

He looked in the full-length mirror, at his still too thin frame but there were places where he could definitely see muscle starting to build. He pinched his skin and frowned. This was going to be fixed. He was already in track and he was  _going_ to be in hockey. This can be done, even if omegas weren’t exactly muscular. He was going to be if it killed him.

Then no one could ever do anything to him again.

Bay pulled his clothes on and grabbed a hoodie and his glasses. Even if it were getting warmer, there was something warm and comforting about a good hoodie. Perhaps that was the  _point_.

He went downstairs, rubbing his eyes, and he found Cassian at the counter with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Bay grabbed the chair and scooted it across the floor to the counter so he could get to his Froot Loops.

He could feel Cassian watching him as he got his food and coffee. He had the food up on the table when he scooted the chair back to where it was and climbed up. He had a spoonful of cereal to his mouth when he frowned at Cassian, who was still watching him with a purely amused look on his face. “What?”

“You’re going to turn into a giant Froot Loop, Kid,” Cassian said with a wry grin. Bay rolled his eyes and dug back into his food. Cassian closed the paper and sat it on the table and leaned forward on the palm of his hand. “We’re going shopping in a bit to get you equipment. You sure you want this?”

Bay looked up at him and he nodded. “Yes.”

“Alright then,” Cassian said. “You got it.”

His face warmed and he knew he was going to get destroyed with Lorcan. He found he didn’t so much care about the bruises that he would gain from learning how to skate, much less the bruises he would get from practice with the other boys. The only downside, he wasn’t a people person. He made friends about as well as Ash knew how to keep his stupid face shut.

Bay nearly had his bowl done when he heard Nate come into the room, his hair a  _mess_. God, he wanted to take a brush to it. Nate climbed onto the stool beside him and dropped his head on folded arms. “How are you awake this early,” he grumbled. “It’s barely daylight.”

Bay shrugged. “You didn’t have to get up, Nate. That’s why I let you sleep.” Nate made a sound in his throat that sounded like a strangled yawn. Bay just shook his head and continued eating his cereal. “Just go back to bed.”

“No,” Nate said, reaching over for Bay’s coffee. “You’re up and now the bed’s cold and I don’t wanna sleep by myself.”

Bay moved his coffee cup to the side before the alpha could get his fingers on it. “I will break your hand,” Bay warned. “Get your own.”

Cassian snorted and Bay turned to Nate, who was looking at him with arched brows. Bay set his jaw and Nate said, “For someone so small you certainly have balls, you know that?”

Cassian starting coughing as Bay gave Nate a completely unimpressed, bored look. “I’m a guy,” he deadpanned. “So yes.”

Nate shook his head as he slipped from his stool and went to get his own coffee. Bay watched the alpha run his fingers through his long hair, getting snagged in the knots, as he poured milk into the mug before sulking back over to his seat.

Nate had the mug up to his lips, their gazes meeting and Bay studied Nate’s eyes. So dark, such a pure rich dark brown it was almost black, like they could swallow the sun. It was like all Nate’s warmth was because he swallowed the whole world’s light.

Nate smirked as he took a long drink from his mug. Bay darted his attention from Nate and turned back in his seat. He stared down at the bowl of cereal, trying vainly to stop the blush from rising in his face, but by the look of Nate’s widening smile from the corner of his eye, he was failing. Miserably.

He wasn’t sure what the lines were between friends, where he should stand with Nate and Ash. But he could tell. He could tell that something was different between him and Nate and him and Ash. Maybe it was because he met Nate first.

But he pushed the thought away as he finished his cereal and was on the last dregs of his coffee when Nesta breezed through the room, already put together for the day. Her hair was up, her dress immaculate and face as cold as a winter dawn.

She took one look at ratnest Nate called hair and her brow twitched, but she went and gathered her own breakfast before sitting at the table next to Cassian. Bay watched her eat, so refined and cultured. So very put together. Made him wonder if she had been a mess  _ever_.

Nesta clicked her manicured nails on the table as she looked between him and Nate carefully, nothing passing her face. She had a cup of tea to her lips and Nate seemed to not notice it as he grumbled and drank his coffee.

“We’re going in about an hour,” Nesta said, putting the cup on the table. “Nate do something with your  _hair_  or you’re not going.”

Nate opened his mouth to argue but closed it immediately as he ran his hand through the back. He winced. “This is why I sleep with a braid,” he pouted, slipping from the stool and storming through the room.

Bay watched the alpha throw the kitchen door open and disappear through it before getting up to get another cup of coffee. He ignored Cassian and Nesta exchanging looks as he put a decent amount of sugar and milk into it and sat at the table.

“Bit sweet, don’t you think?” Cassian asked.

“I’m from Arkansas,” Bay said dryly. “It’s not sweet  _enough_.”

Cassian snorted and Bay brought the mug to his lips. It  _was_ sweet, very sweet. He had grown up on the taste of sweet tea the last few years with his fath- David. With  _David_. And now whenever he thought about it, he just thought about him.

So he drank coffee. But it was just so  _bitter_  and he just wasn’t a fan of that crap at all. So he put in sugar and he put in milk and he made it as sweet as he liked. Luckily, neither Cassian or Nesta had reprimanded him for the amount of sugar he consumed. They just gave him amused looks. And took him to the dentist. Gross.

Bay finished the dregs of his coffee and put it in the sink and went to find Nate. He found the male trying to get the knots out of his hair. Bay sat on the bed with crossed legs as Nate tried. He had to give him props for not cursing considering Nate’s face was skewed as he ran the comb through his hair.

“One of these days I’m just going to cut it,” Nate growled, wincing.

“Don’t you dare,” Bay frowned, before he could even take back the words. His face went hot as Nate stopped and looked at him.

“And why is that?” Nate asked. “ _You_ have short hair. Why can’t I?”

_Because I like it long_. “Because you would look weird with short hair.”

“Would not,” Nate said, looking offended. “I’m far too pretty for that to ever happen. I could shave my head and I would still be the best looking thing on this planet.”

_Please no_. “Gross.”

Nate wrinkled his nose. “Fine. Then make yourself useful and help me.”

Bay pointed to the floor in front of the bed and said, “Sit.”

“Is that a dog joke?”

Bay blinked. “Do you want help or not?”

Nate sighed through his nose and dropped to the floor where Bay had pointed. The alpha scooted until his back was flush against the bed. He handed Bay the comb. “Go nuts.”

Bay carefully brushed his fingers through Nate’s silky hair and his omega purred in delight. The boy’s scent filled his nose and Bay had to stop and center himself before he started combing carefully. Nate didn’t move and it took Bay ten minutes before he had the knots out. “Next time you’ll learn to braid your hair, hmm?”

He couldn’t see Nate’s face but he knew well enough Nate was rolling his eyes.

* * *

Cassian had looked forward to this shopping trip since the moment Bay had shown interest in hockey. He hadn’t played since college but that look. That look of pure want on Bay’s face had him planning before he even had the chance to reconsider.

They pulled into the parking lot of the sports store and Bay was out of the car with his hands shoved into his hoodie pockets, or rather, in Nate’s hoodie pockets. The thing went down to Bay’s thighs and was so ridiculously big on him but he seemed to enjoy it.

Nate certainly was.

The interior of the store was nearly empty of people and he watched Bay look around with heart eye while Nate looked around thoroughly unimpressed with everything. How Nate was related with Adrien and Blake, other than the obvious, he had no idea.

He took Bay down to the isle with the hockey equipment and Bay looked over everything carefully, scrutinizingly. The omega went for the cheapest stick while Cassian reached for one of the more expensive. Bay stopped, looked at the stick in Cassian’s hand and then back at the price. He gaped.

“ _Cassian_ ,” he chastised. “That’s almost seventy-five dollars! I don’t  _need_ -”

“Hush,” Cassian said. “It’ll last longer.”

Bay frowned at him and Cassian met him stare for stare. Nesta and Nate watched them with equal parts amusement and boredom. Bay’s arms folded and the omega set his jaw, those piercing eyes never leaving his. Perhaps Bay wouldn’t have a complete wipeout on the ice after all, if he could hold and direct a challenge with an alpha several years his senior.

It was almost laughable. Bay barely met his stomach in height and yet he was able to hold his ground. Something he definitely wouldn’t have been able to do when they first met. That omega,  _that_ omega would have turned and run. He liked this. He liked a kid who wasn’t afraid to stand his ground.

But he was still the parent. And it was  _his_ job to spoil. No matter the protests from his son.

Cassian reached over for the cheaper stick and said, “We’ll just get both and when this one breaks, like I said it would,  _then_ we’ll use mine. And I’ll get to tell you ‘I told you so’.” Bay’s face scrunched up and his frown deepened. “Just wait until you get older, Kid. The prices will knock you sideways.”

Bay’s face paled and disdain flinted across his features as he turned back to the sticks. “Maybe I shouldn’t,” Bay said, so quietly as he scanned the prices.

Nate-  _Nate_ \- was the one to speak up. He leaned over, braced Bay’s shoulder and dipped his head, whispering something to the omega. Bay looked up at him, his face open as he listened to Nate. Cassian made a mental note that if Bay had ever gotten stubborn enough, Nate was the way to get what was needed.

Nothing flickered in Nesta’s face as she watched Bay and Nate argue beneath hushed tones. Nate braced both shoulders then, meeting and directing a challenge with Bay and he whispered again. Bay paused a moment, thinking and then he nodded once.

Bay looked at him and Cassian rose his brows. “Skates?”

Bay’s cheeks turned pink and he looked back at Nate. Nate held his eyes intensely, nothing warm on his face as he nods encouragingly. Bay gazes at him for another heartbeat before turning back to him. And dipping his head into a nod.

Nate gave him a blinding smile and before Bay could say a word, Nate had Bay’s hand in his and was tugging the omega down the aisle towards the skates.

* * *

Three hours later, Bay nearly had a heart attack when the final prices came up for all the hockey equipment. Nate had just hooked his arm around Bay’s shoulder and nipped at him in what Bay guessed was supposed to be comfort. Never in his life had he thought someone would willingly spend  _that_ much money on him.

After they had gotten something to eat, Cassian took him back to the rink and Bay felt his omega perk up in anticipation to get on the ice. Nate had come, had brought his own skates, which, apparently he knew  _how_ to use. He guessed with an older brother who skated, it was obvious that Nate also knew how to skate.

Cassian and Nate both helped him lace up and they got him onto the ice. He felt several times, flat on his knees and Nate and Cassian laughed goodnaturedly. Bay’s cheeks burned furiously but he kept getting himself back up and going. He would  _not_ let his stupid blushing get in the way of being able to do this. Or the fact he couldn’t  _skate_.

They both gave him tips, which Bay memorized and told himself over and over. He lost count of the number of times he fell on the ice but when Nate helped him up, when that scent filled his nose, or when that smile stretched on Nate’s face, well, he didn’t hurt.

He ignored Cassian watching them carefully and grabbed at Nate’s arms and get up and he let Nate pull him across the ice. And eventually, he started to get the hang of it and he saw such pride on Cassian’s face as he began to skate without making a fool of himself.

Hours past before Cassian had to force him and Nate off the ice to go home-  _his_ home- to eat dinner. Nesta was at the table waiting for them while she did her work from a laptop. Cassian dished up food, important food for hockey players, he claimed.

Bay honestly didn’t care. He was really freaking hungry and he would have eaten  _vegetables_ if they had been dropped in front of him. Nate dug into his food next to him and Bay was very acutely aware of Nate’s leg touching his.

“Lorcan is going to want you training and practicing until you are caught up with the other boys. He’s also told me he’s not going to tell your team you’re an omega,” Cassian said, taking a bite of his food. “He says it’s your choice and that if you wish to tell them, then you will. He doesn’t want them to be making biased decisions before you even get the chance to prove yourself. You okay with that?”

He had worried about that. If the team would accept them among him. He figured they would all be either betas or alphas considering he was…. Rare. Nate squeezed Bay’s knee and Bay felt his cheeks warm and he looked at Cassian. And nodded.

He didn’t want them to know. He already had enough stacked against him, he didn’t need people to start judging him based on his status alone. That, and he didn’t want them to  _protect_ him when they should be worrying about the game.

Approval glinted in Nesta’s eyes as she ate her food. Cassian started telling them about when he was in college and was a hockey player and Bay could almost see Nate’s eyes glaze over and tune out Cassian. Bay couldn’t stop from smiling as he dug into his food. He smiled and smiled and smiled.

* * *

Hours later, Lorcan Salvaterre watched Bay on the ice, performing the exercises that he had paid forth for the omega. He hadn’t expected him to be anywhere near where he needed to be (and he was right) but his stubbornness held true and was getting him through the more rigorous drills.

Lorcan folded his arms over his chest as he felt Cassian come up beside him. He appeared to be doing well, there was light that shone in his eyes when he looked at Bay. Such pride and approval. And love. Reminded him of Elide whenever she looked at Dex or Marion. “Am I going to have to worry about him imprinting with one of the boys?”

God, he did not want to think about the repercussions of what would happen if Bay mated with one of the boys on his team. One, they were too young and for another, the thought of what a kid would do to protect their mate while in a brutal sport like this made his blood run cold.

Cassian shook his head once. “No.”

He said it so definitively, so completely. He trusted his judgement. Especially as he thought about the young alpha from the game and how he had tried shielding Bay from him. He had a feeling Bay isn’t going to allow that shielding for much longer.

They watched Bay go through the drills, watched Bay land on his ass, watched Bay’s knees and elbows crack on the ice. He could hear the omega growl from where he was.

Cassian said Bay had been on the ice earlier that day. For hours. He apparently has gained some level of control of his body. The stick he was using was meant for someone far less younger than Bay, though the omega was rather small all ready. He’s going to need a very thick skin to be able to survive a sport like this. But judging by the quiet steel in the boy’s eyes when they met, a quiet steel that was learned from experience, Lorcan believed Bay was more than capable.

* * *

Bay woke with a start, his blood thrumming and he forced air into his lungs as he sat up and palmed his eyes. His body shook, albeit painfully from yesterday’s practice, but the dream threatened to pull him back under and Bay had to remember where he was, who he was. He had to remember that he was with Cassian and Nesta and not with David.

He looked around into the darkness of his room and snapped his eyes on the small light by the door. A  _nightlight_. He was ten years old and he had a stupid nightlight. But with the light pulling him from the nightmare, Bay found he was glad for it. He centered himself around it, groggy and half asleep. But he slipped from the bed and padded down the hallway and stopped when he saw another light. From the living room.

* * *

Nesta had been awake for hours. She couldn’t sleep and after trying in vain for hours, she eventually got up and decided to finish the last of the paperwork for Bay’s adoption. One week until the final hearing.

Her head snapped up as she heard the small padding of feet coming into the room and nearly winced as Bay almost walked into a stand while rubbing his eyes. He had to be half asleep. Or he just couldn’t see to begin with. He truly had  _horrid_ eyesight.

He stopped, swayed and the came over to climb on the couch next to her and roll into a ball, facing the inside of the couch. His messy hair brushed the sides of her nightgown. She refrained from reaching over to run her fingers into the ash gold strands.

A small whine was in the omega’s throat as she got up and grabbed the soft throw blanket from the chair. She settled next to him and put it over him and tucked it into his sides.

He wiggled and turned over, pulling the blanket up closer to his face, a soft sigh breathing through him as she touched his cheek. “Mom,” he half whined, tugging the blanket over his head. “Too bright.”

Nesta froze completely and she felt tears sting the back of her eyes at that word. That  _word_. She hastily wiped at her cheeks and dimmed the light and went back to her work. Though her mind was echoing the word again and again.

_Mom._

* * *

The next week went by like a dream for Bay. He woke up, went to school and then went to practice. Every. Single. Night. His muscles were sore as heck but he was so glad to be making progress. Nate even came to some of his practices. His teammates welcomed him, though they pounded him into the ice. And helped him back up. None of them suspected him of being an omega.

The suit he was in was going to make him break out in hives. He hated dressing up, hating being out of his soft hoodies- or rather Nate’s hoodies that went past his fingers and could be pulled over his knees so he sat in a lavender and apple cocoon.

These clothes are far too fancy for an omega who was just trying to fit in, but they were in a courtroom and a courtroom needed Courtroom Clothing. Even if he wanted to burn them to ash. Judging by Cassian in the same thing, and the same slight grimace on his face, Cassian agreed with this assessment. Only Nesta appeared truly unbothered.

The judge and Ms. Galathynius talked protocol and Bay tried to not squirm in his seat at all the adults attentions turning to him. Ms. Galathynius nudged for him to stand and Bay did and came up beside her. The judge was a slight woman with dark hair and cunning black eyes.

She leaned forward on her elbows and folded her hands. “I understand you have started school at Maas Academy.”

Bay nodded and Ms. Galathynius leaned towards him and whispered, “You need to speak up so the stenographer can record what you say.”

Bay nodded again and cleared his throat before saying, “Yes, Ma'am.”

“How is that going?” The judged asked kindly.

Heat pressed against his cheeks. “Okay. I was behind for a while but Nesta has been helping me. I wouldn’t have been able to catch up with my class if not for her.”  _I wouldn’t have been able to read without her._

The judge smiled. “You make any new friends?”

“Yes,” he said. “Ash and Nate are my best friends.”

“Good. Good. One last question.” He nodded and she asked, “Are you happy with Cassian and Nesta Archeron?”

“Yes,” he breathed. He caught Cassian kissing Nesta’s temple from the corner of his eye. “Very much. I love them.”

Her smile widened and she leaned back in her seat. “That’s all I needed to hear. It’s my finding that Baylor Perditus is the legal and  _official_ son of Cassian and Nesta Archeron. From now on, you’ll be Baylor Archeron. You think you can handle that?”

Tears slipped down his cheeks and he choked out, “Yes.”

The next ten minutes went by like a blur and the next thing Bay knew, Cassian was knelt in front of him and a brilliant blinding smile was on Cassian’s face as he tugged Bay into his arms. Bay buried his face in Cassian’s neck and inhaled his scent.

Something in his chest swelled and he didn’t know how his heart could stay behind his ribs. Cassian’s massive arms swallowed Bay and he felt Cassian’s lips against his temple. “I love you, Kid,” he whispered.

Bay closed his eyes and he felt tears against his cheeks. “I love you too,” Bay murmured into Cassian’s neck. “…Dad.” Cassian’s breath caught and for a moment Bay thought he said the wrong thing. But Cassian’s arms tightened around him and Bay wheezed, “I can’t  _breathe_.”

Cassian pulled back and his eyes were so bright and he turned and looked back at Nesta, whose face was smoothed out, but her eyes glittered with unshed tears and Bay pulled apart from Cassian and barreled into her. And he hugged her. Tight.

He clung to her like a lifeline and whether or not that was because he never had a mom, he didn’t know. But now he did and he was never going to let her go. He felt her fingers in his hair and he breathed in her scent. It settled in his bones. “I love you, too,” he whispered. “..Mom.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how long this will be but i have alot planned for this fic! Comments are welcomed and loved and help motivate me :)


End file.
